SPIRIT  AN        TBR 


T.    ^    HEYSINGER 


LIBRARY 

UNIVEf 

CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DiEGO 


ATURDAY  MORNING,  JUN1 


SPIRIT  AND  MATTER 

.    .     BEFORE  THE  BAR   OF    .    . 
MODERN  SCIENCE 


SPIRIT  &  MATTER 

BEFORE   THE   BAR   OF 

MODERN  SCIENCE 


BY 

ISAAC  W.  HEYSINGER,  M.A.,  M.D. 

Associate,  Society  for  Psychical  Research  (London)  ;   Member  U.S.  Military  Order,  Loyal 
Legion;  Member  of  the  Penna  Historical  Society;  Pennsylvania  State  Insane  Hospital 
Commission;  Undergraduate  in  Arts,  Dartmouth  College;  Captain  U.S.  Army,  War 
of  the  Rebellion  ;   Graduate  in  Arts^  and  Sciences,  Union  University  ;  Certificate 
in  Analytical  Chemistry,  University  of  Michigan  ;  Graduate  in  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  Jefferson  Medical  College;  Official  Expert  in  U.S.  Circuit  and 
Supreme  Court  Patent  Causes,  Mechanical,  Chemical,  and  Electrical ; 
Author  of '" Solar  Energy,  its  Source  and  Mode  throughout  the 
Universe" ;  "  The  Light  of  China"  (translation  from  the 
Chinese   and    Commentary   on   the   Too   Teh   King); 
"Factors  of  Belief" ;    "The  Mechanism  of  Con- 
version "  ;    "  Therapeutics  of  North   American 
Soils  and  Climates"  Etc. 


PHILADELPHIA 

J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 

LONDON:  T.  WERNER   LAURIE 
1910 


PREFACE 

THE  time  seems  to  have  come  for  a  clear  and  dis- 
passionate statement  of  the  inevitable  trend  of 
Psychology,  as  it  now  is,  and  as  it  is  reaching  out  to 
newer  and  grander  fields  of  discovery  in  the  realms  of 
life,  mind  and  spirit.  We  have  passed  the  regions  of 
darkness  and  doubt,  and  to-day  it  is  true,  in  all  its 
fulness  and  strength,  that  the  greatest  and  pro- 
foundest  students  of  Psychology,  and  of  its  kindred 
sciences,  most  of  these  sciences  new,  and  all  of  them 
reconstructed  by  fuller  knowledge,  are  agreed,  with 
practical  unanimity,  that  the  old  past  theories,  or 
hypotheses  rather,  of  materialism,  of  nihilism,  of  em- 
piricism, have  been  proven  untenable  and  altogether 
worthless,  and  that  the  so-called  physical  sciences 
have  never  been  at  all  capable  of  taking  sides  in  the 
controversy  which  is  now  about  ended.  We  have 
advanced  so  far  and  so  surely,  now,  that  the  alter- 
natives presented  are  few,  as  regards  the  general 
outcome,  and  that  these  are  non-physical,  in  any 
sense  in  which  the  term  physical  has  ever  been 
legitimately  employed.  In  other  words,  the  trans- 
cendental has  been  the  final  victor,  and  we  are  dealing 
to-day  with  the  various  phases  of  transcendentalism, 
and  even  here  we  have  reached  a  plane  in  which 
serious  conflict  has  terminated,  and  psychical  students 
are  searching  out,  with  perfect  and  friendly  interest, 
the  solution  of  the  still  remaining  open  questions. 
We  are  clearly  able  to  see  that  the  final  conclusions 
lie  along  lines  already  far  advanced,  and  that  the 
future  advances  will  be  to  still  higher  planes,  which 
we  already  clearly  see,  and  can  more  or  less  definitely 
follow  and  map  out. 

These  advances  are  to  be  found  described  or  in- 
dicated in  many,  many  standard  books,  in  the  re- 


vi  PREFACE 

ports  and  papers  of  many  able  investigators,  in  the 
work  of  many  world-famous  students  and  experts, 
but  they  have  not,  as  yet,  been  brought  together  and 
co-ordinated,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  a  single  compact 
volume. 

With  much  diffidence  I  have  endeavoured,  in 
these  chapters,  to  do  this,  and  I  have  sought  to  make 
the  book  readable  and  interesting  as  well.  If  I  have 
in  any  wise  succeeded,  my  work  will  have  been  well 
done  ;  if  not,  rest  assured  that  others  will  take  up  the 
task  and  carry  it  on  until  all  the  world,  even  the  un- 
cultured world,  as  it  is  called,  will  witness  its  triumph 
and  look  back  with  horror  upon  those  bad,  old,  dark, 
blind  days — 

"  When  metes  and  bounds  were  set  which  none  might  pass, 
When  Science  closed  her  eyes,  and  could  not  see, 

When  truth  was  lumped,  and  measured  in  the  mass, 

And  mind  and  matter  seemed  a  great  morass 

Where  self-engendered  monsters  chanced  to  be, — 
Behold  !  and  lo,  the  vast  inflowing  sea  !  " 

THE  AUTHOR. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 
PART   I 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  I 3 

The  time  has  arrived  when  the  subjects  of  this  work 
can  be  properly  treated — The  older  theologies  becoming 
displaced — The  sharp  divisions  between  science  and 
religion  disappearing — New  conceptions  of  mind  and 
consciousness — The  spiritual  basis  of  religion  becom- 
ing universally  recognised — The  whole  subject  being 
considered  now  from  a  new  standpoint — Advances 
in  all  directions — Christianity  the  great  gainer — The 
foundations  of  Christian  belief  being  supported  to 
absolute  demonstration  by  the  latest  science  and 
psychology 

Psychology  as  a  science — Dependent  on  the  newer 
sciences  for  evidence — Until  recently  impossible  to 
fully  demonstrate — Has  been  opposed  by  an  a  priori — 
Physical  research  insufficient — Transcends  a  material 
basis  for  its  evidence — The  basis  of  psychology  is  the 
transcendental,  the  superphysical — Definition  of  the 
term  psychology 

Authorities  Cited 

Herbert  Spencer  —  Professor  Shaler  —  Professor 
James — Rev.  Dr  Davies — Canons  Church  of  England — 
Max  Muller — Rev.  Dr  Gladden — Romanes — Huxley — 
Locke — Hammond — Haeckel 


CHAPTER  II 15 

Argument  for  spiritualism — Not  certain  that  these 
phenomena  in  general  are  spiritualistic — May  be  a 
greater  integration,  including  all  psychical  phenomena 
— Natural  science  has  failed  to  investigate  these 
phenomena — Had  it  done  so,  great  results  would  have 
followed  long  since — The  transcendent  importance  of 
genuine  psychology — The  connections  of  mind  and 
matter — The  attitude  of  primitive  Christianity — 
The  revolt  of  Luther 

Authorities  Cited 

Romanes — Lamarck — Richet — Sir  W:  Crookes — 
Tyndall — Davies 

v 


viii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  III 21 

Spiritualism  in  the  church — Original  reformers  all 
spiritualistic  —  Catholic  church  spiritualistic  —  Re- 
formation abandoned  direct  spiritualism,  in  order 
to  secure  standing  against  the  older  church — Left 
Bible  as  historic  record — Yet  canon  of  Scripture  itself 
was  from  spiritualistic  revelation  to  the  old  church  in 
comparatively  recent  times — Imperfection  of  the 
Bible  as  a  merely  historic  record — Errors  of  trans- 
lation ;  validity  of  the  books  themselves — The  record 
demands  continuous  spiritualistic  control  and 
revelation 

Authorities  Cited 

Luther  —  Zwingli  —  Melancthon  —  Westcott  —  Dr 
Roberts — Lardner — Farrar — Religious  Tract  Society 

CHAPTER  IV 28 

Results  of  despiritualising  the  church — Decay  of 
vital  Christianity — Contrast  with  the  earlier  ages — 
Christian  miracles  ;  when,  if  at  all,  and  why,  were  they 
discontinued  ? — The  resurrection — Scientific  evidence 
in  its  favour — Anecdote  of  an  apparent  resurrection 

Authorities  Cited 

Moody — Bishop  Bradley  —  Tertullian  —  Irenasus  — 
Orton — Sir  John  Franklin — Romanes 

CHAPTER  V 36 

The  spiritual  conflict  within  the  church — The 
triumph  of  Christianity  in  earlier  ages — Its  permanent 
spiritualising  power  —  Lost  in  sacerdotalism  —  Its 
spiritualistic  phenomena  identical  with  the  universal 
spiritualistic  experiences  of  all  mankind  in  all  ages — 
The  revolt  in  the  i6th  century — Surrender  to  and  in- 
corporation with  materialism — An  absentee  God  ;  and 
an  impersonal  Nature  in  control 

Authorities  Cited 

Du  Prel  —  St  Paul  —  Herron  —  Canon  Barnett — 
Jesus — Montucci 

CHAPTER  VI ^>  .    „:        .        .        -43 

Causality — The  fatal  mistake  of  sectarian  theology — 
Relegation  of  God  and  Christ  to  another  sphere,  and 
substitution  of  a  blind  Nature — We  have  no  knowledge 
of  causes  except  of  volitional  causes — Only  intelligent 
design,  and  divine  volition  constantly  acting,  can  ex- 
plain the  universe — The  nearly  fatal  error  of  theology, 
"  If  there  be  a  personal  God,  He  is  not  immediately 
concerned  with  natural  causation  " 

Authorities  Cited 

Romanes  —  Sir  John  Herschel  —  Lamarck  —  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  —  Cicero  —  Lyte  —  Chopin  —  Newman 
— Romanes 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  ix 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  VII 52 

The  psychism  of  the  universe  —  Protoplasm  a 
machine  intelligently  designed  and  constructed — 
Living  organisms  are  also  intelligent  designers  and 
constructors — A  constant  interchange  between  these 
psychisms 

Authorities  Cited 

Romanes — Conn — Dr  Bingham 

CHAPTER  VIII 55 

Spiritualism  the  basis  of  all  religions,  present  or  past, 
and  among  all  peoples — All  religion  depends  on  revela- 
tion— Religion  extends  back  to  the  origin  of  human 
existence — Spiritualism  extends  back  equally,  and  is 
the  means  by  which  religions  became  revealed  to  man- 
kind— Religious  spiritualism  identical  at  all  times  and 
among  all  peoples — These  have  been  the  great  factors 
of  human  advancement — Intercommunion  between  the 
living  and  the  surviving  spirits  of  the  dead  never  denied 
until  recently,  and  then  only  by  a  few  who  have  never 
studied  the  phenomena,  or  the  principles  on  which  they 
have  been  demonstrated — Spiritualism  not  a  new 
thing  ;  its  denial  is  the  new  thing — It  challenges 
investigation  at  all  times — If  it  ever  existed  it  must  and 
does  exist  now 

Authorities  Cited 

Brinton  —  "The  Supernatural  in  Nature"  —  Tylor 
— Sargent — Sir  Charles  Lyell — Dr  Davies — Rev.  Dr 
Ellinwood  —  Shaler  —  Professor  William  James 

CHAPTER  IX 61 

Spiritualism  before  the  bar  of  science — Has  the  same 
right  to  fair  investigation  as  have  other  phenomena — In 
all  experimentation  conditions  must  be  observed — 
Science  has,  however,  approached  these  phenomena  in 
a  hostile  spirit — An  unbiassed  mind  is  the  first  pre- 
requisite of  anyone  claiming  to  be  a  man  of  science 

Authorities  Cited 

New  Testament — Mrs  Ross  Church — Sir  William 
Crookes 

CHAPTER  X 68 

Experimental  psychology — Spiritualism  among  the 
Chinese  —  Time,  patience,  and  continued  labour, 
and  some  expense  required  to  investigate  spiritual 
phenomena — The  same  is  true  of  chemistry,  geology 
and  all  other  pursuits — A  whole  literature  to  be 
studied — Materials  to  be  procured — Mediums  to  be 
consulted  and  often  rejected — Times  and  conditions 
must  be  observed — There  must  be  thought,  study, 
comparison  and  investigation — An  education  is  re- 
quisite before  this  study  can  be  intelligently  pursued — 
The  same  is  true  of  chemistry,  mathematics,  geology, 


x  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter  X — continued 

astronomy,  biology  and  other  sciences — Science  has 
until  recently  discredited  such  education — Impossible 
to  pursue  any  study  under  the  conditions  formerly 
demanded  in  the  name  of  science — It  began  with  an 
a  priori  judgment  against  the  whole  case — This  attitude 
concededly  unscientific 

Authorities  Cited 

Rev.  Dr  Nevius — Rev.  Dr  Ellinwood — Kepler — 
Newton 

CHAPTER  XI 73 

The  ban  of  a  priori  —  Franklin's  experiments  in 
electricity — Herbert  Spencer  met  the  facts  by  saying 
that  he  had  settled  the  question  on  a  priori  grounds 
— Alfred  Russel  Wallace  on  a  priori 

Authorities  Cited 

Tyndall — Huxley  —  Gladstone  —  Davies  —  Franklin 
— Spencer — Wallace — Tennyson 


PART    II 

CHAPTER  XII 81 

Summary  of  Part  I. — The  basis  of  all  religions  the 
same — Identical  with  the  claims  and  practices  of 
modern  spiritualism — This  universality  is  valid  evidence 
of  their  truth — Revelation  from  the  supernormal  the 
common  factor — Religion  denned — Ethics  insufficient, 
and  of  itself  baseless,  and  will  land  us  in  misery — The 
integrating  principle  of  the  universe — Chief  argument 
for  the  existence  of  God — Science  the  new-comer — It 
abandoned  its  own  principles  in  professing  to  deal  with 
the  supernormal — The  concrete  results  of  science 
considered 

Authorities  Cited 

Tylor  —  J.-  Estlin  Carpenter  —  Romanes  —  Charles 
Darwin — Professor  Momerie — Huxley 

CHAPTER  XIII 88 

Miracles — Hume's  argument — Fallacies  in  Hume's 
definitions — Fallacy  in  his  argument — Huxley  denies 
Hume's  argument  on  grounds  which  "  Knock  the 
bottom  out  of  all  a  priori  objections  to  miracles  " — 
Wallace  and  Romanes  demonstrate  worthlessness  of 
the  position  of  Hume,  and  many  other  scientific  men, 
toward  miracles  and  spiritualism — Miracles  defined — 
The  New  Testament  miracles  considered  in  the  light  of 
scientific  discovery — Examples,  the  Resurrection  con- 
sidered— Living  and  dead  protoplasm — The  principle 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xi 

PAGE 

Chapter  XIII — continued 

of  continuity — An  intelligent  agent  operating  in  the 
universe — "  Miracle  "  may  be,  not  in  defiance  of,  but 
in  fulfilment  of,  law — The  parthenogenetic  conception 
ascribed  to  Jesus — Such  instances  numerous  and 
physiological — Examples  cited  among  lower  animals  and 
from  surgical  and  medical  cases  among  mankind — 
"  Spontaneous  generation  "  —  The  first  creation 
narrative  in  Genesis — Miracles  in  organic  life  ;  metabol- 
ism ;  mental  phenomena ;  somnambules  ;  Mollie 
Fancher  ;  X+Y=Z  —  Christianity  a  system  of  in- 
tellectual liberty  ;  afterwards  restricted  and  perverted 
by  theology — An  avenue  between  the  seen  and  the  un- 
seen worlds 

Authorities  Cited 

Hume  —  Wallace  —  Huxley  —  Romanes  —  Professor 
W.  H.  Thomson  —  Professor  Michael  Foster  —  Von 
Hartmann  —  Balfour  Stewart  —  Tait  —  Dr  Gould's 
"  Curiosities  of  Medicine  " — Dr  Eve's  "  Remarkable 
Cases  in  Surgery" — Tacitus — Pliny  the  Younger — 
Kidd — G.  H.  Lewes — Comte — Lord  Kelvin — Haeckel — 
Rev.  Dr  Sanders — Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps 

CHAPTER  XIV no 

The  limitations  of  physical  science — Huxley's  state- 
ment of  its  narrow  boundaries — Jevons  on  the  un- 
warranted claims  of  scientific  writers — The  unfairness 
of  many  writers  on  scientific  subjects — Concealment  of 
discordant  facts — Scope  of  science  far  narrower  than 
often  claimed — An  infallible  test  of  a  genuine  man  of 
science — The  proof  of  unworthiness  and  charlatanry — 
The  fate  of  the  latter — The  claim  that  our  knowledge 
is  assuming  an  approximately  complete  character 
erroneous — We  never  can  comprehend  more  than  an 
infinitesimal  part — New  and  unexplained  facts  are 
divergent  in  extent  ;  the  more  science  explains  the  more 
it  has  to  explain — The  advances  of  science  have  always 
been  made  from  the  study  of  discordant  and  rejected 
residua 

Authorities  Cited 

Huxley — Jevons — Gladstone — St  John  Stock 

CHAPTER  XV 116 

The  dark  days  of  psychology — Ignorance  regarding 
force  and  matter — Belief  that  religion  was  about  to 
disappear — Only  recently  has  science  taken  cognisance 
of  anything  non-material — New  sciences  were  necessary 
to  prepare  the  way — The  observer  of  mere  physics 
must  see  mind  at  a  great  disadvantage — Spiritual 
truths  in  the  universe 

Authorities  Cited 

Balfour  Stewart — P.  G.  Tait — Sir  John  Herschel — 
Romanes  —  Lord  Kelvin  —  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  —  The 
Society  for  Psychical  Research — Dean  Swift-~-Mallock 
— Ingersoll — Shaler — Sir  William  Crookes 


xii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


CHAPTER  XVI 124 

The  credulity  of  incredulity — A  priori  the  only  fatal 
attitude — The  scientific  method — Science  when  fairly 
pursued  makes  absurd  drafts,  says  Jevons,  upon  our 
powers  of  comprehension  and  belief — De  Morgan  on 
science  assuming  a  priest's  cast-off  garb  dyed  to  escape 
detection — Arago  on  scientific  doubt  as  contrasted 
with  incredulity — The  dangers  of  unlimited  scepticism — 
The  dogmatism  of  theology  compared  with  that  of 
science — Ignoring  undesirable  facts — The  gross  credulity 
of  ignorant  spiritualists  finds  its  counterpart  in  the 
gross  incredulity  of  ignorant  scientific  specialists — The 
passing  away  of  the  dark  days  of  psychology 

Authorities  Cited 

Jevons  —  De  Morgan  —  Laplace  —  Arago  —  Aber- 
crombie  —  Wallace  —  Gregory  —  Ragsky  —  Huss  — 
Endlicher  —  Diesing  —  Pauthot  —  Gamier  — 
—  Trevillian  —  Mayo  —  Haddock  —  Lee  —  Atkinson 
— Clark — Carpenter — Schofield 

CHAPTER  XVII 131 

Physical  science  cannot  explain  its  own  bases — 
Deals  only  with  properties  and  physical  manifestations 
— Every  new  discovery  in  fundamentals  shifts  the 
whole  attitude  of  science — Natural  history  was 
formerly  but  a  descriptive  science  of  forms,  structures 
and  habits — When  biology  arose,  and  was  pushed  to  its 
logical  end,  a  whole  new  world  of  nature  appeared — 
Laboratory  work  grotesquely  insufficient — The  passage 
from  the  physics  of  the  brain  to  the  corresponding  facts 
of  consciousness  unthinkable — The  phenomenal  world 
of  lower  animals,  as  shown  in  their  behaviour,  does 
not  contradict  our  own  views  of  the  same — Appears  to 
be  a  basis  of  independent  reality  to  which  each  sentiency 
helps  itself 

Authorities  Cited 

» 

Lamarck  —  Cuvier  —  Darwin  —  Graham  —  Wars- 
chauer — Tyndall — Buchner — Masson 

CHAPTER  XVIII 136 

The  modern  patent  systems  founded  on  super- 
normal phenomena — Cash  value  of  patented  inventions 
as  an  evidence  of  the  economic  value  of  supernormal 
revelations — Invention  does  not  depend  upon  reason  ; 
nor  upon  what  science  deals  with  ;  nor  upon  what 
observations  of  physical  phenomena  deal  with — It  comes 
like  "  a  bolt  from  the  blue  "  ;  "  it  is  creation  ab  initio  "  ; 
it  is  not  scientific  ;  it  is  instantaneous,  and  not  only 
different  from  but  opposed  to  reason — It  is  the  imaging, 
in  practical  and  useful  form,  of  the  unseen  and  un- 
known from  a  world  of  the  unseen  and  unknown — A 
single  indecomposable  mental  act 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xiii 

PAUB 

Authorities  Cited 

Tennyson — Merwin  on  "  Patentability  of  Inven- 
tions " — Herschel — Ladd — United  States  Circuit  Court 
decisions — United  States  Supreme  Court 

CHAPTER  XIX 144 

The  workshop  in  the  subconscious  department  of  the 
mind — Telepathy  will  not  account  for  invention — 
Comes,  like  genius  and  inspiration,  from  a  non-human 
psychical  source — Tennyson  on  guardian  spirits  of  the 
dead — Spiritual  manifestations  always  with  us,  but  we 
see  them  not  because  blinded  with  other  things — 
Their  source  in  an  intellectual  beyond — Many  ex- 
amples of  the  subconscious  manifesting  through  the 
conscious  mind — They  emerge  unsolicited,  and  respond 
to  undefined  wants — Error  in  analogy  of  "  thresholds 
of  consciousness  "  or  "  higher  and  lower  "  or  '•'  strata  '* 
as  applied  to  mental  phenomena — These  terms  useful 
if  we  use  them  merely  as  formal  expressions — The  scope 
and  source  of  the  subconscious  realm  considered — 
Found  among  all  animals,  and  also  in  plants — Found 
also  in  the  morphology  of  growing  organisms — Sym- 
pathy'universal  in  extent 

Authorities  Cited 

Swedenborg  —  Von  Hartmann  —  Newman  — 
Tennyson — Romanes — Huxley — Locke — Bowen — Kip- 
ling —  Archimedes  —  Newton  —  Ladd  —  Schofield 

—  Montgomery  —  Wundt  —  Waldstein  —  Holmes 

—  Dr  G.  Thompson  —  Barker  —  Agassiz  —  Ward  — 
Darwin — Orton 

CHAPTER  XX 152 

Memory  the  final  battleground  of  empiricism  — 
The  physical  theory  of  memory  untenable — "  Im- 
pressions "  cannot  serve,  if  cerebral  or  material — Use 
of  these  terms  admissible,  if  we  understand  that  they 
are  merely  used  as  terms  and  not  as  explanations — A 
dialogue  involving  many  phases  of  memory — Associa- 
tion of  ideas  inadequate — A  body  of  memories  must 
have  a  single  intelligence  which  constantly  comprehends 
each  one — Professor  Bowen's  example  of  the  memory 
of  a  hundred  thousand  words  in  various  languages  in 
which  a  "  picker,"  who  knows  each  one,  must  bring  the 
word  to  the  surface  as  soon  as  needed,  in  its  etymology, 
its  English  equivalent,  its  grammatical  relations  to 
other  groups,  etc.,  etc. — Analogy  of  a  librarian  finding 
a  book  desired  by  means  of  a  catalogue — In  case  of  the 
memory,  if  it  is  but  a  collection  stored  away,  then  the 
subconscious  or  conscious  desire  for  the  word  must  bring 
the  word  out  of  the  collection  ;  hence  must  have  known 
what  to  bring  beforehand  ;  hence  the  collection  of 
them  is  unnecessary — Physical  theory  breaks  down,  in 
every  shape — Allied  to  instinct,  and  immaterial  ;  and 
would  be  seen  to  be  supernormal  unless  so  common  as 
to  escape  notice 


xiv  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

fAGB 

Authorities  Cited 

Lord  Bacon — Tennyson — Von  Hartmann — Professor 
Bo  wen — Sir  John  Herschel — Kant 

CHAPTER  XXI 1 59 

The  sole  alternatives  :  deity  and  spiritualism,  or  else 
zero  and  Nihilism — Encounter  to-day  the  old  odium 
theologicum,  and  opprobrium  scientice — Science  de- 
graded by  refusal  to  investigate  every  disputed 
scientific  question — Its  only  enemy  is  a  priori,  which  is 
the  refusal  of  the  will  to  believe,  and  the  refusal  to 
Investigate  lest  it  will  believe — Psychology  does  not 
properly  deal  with  how  fast  nerve  sensations  travel, 
or  how  far  apart  pin-pricks  can  be  distinguished  as  one 
or  two  ;  but  what  it  is  that  travels,  and  what  it  is  that 
perceives — Shall  philosophy  and  science  pretend  to  deal 
with  mentality  and  life,  and  yet  not  know,  or  seek  to 
learn,  what  they  are  ;  and  should  science  not  wait  to 
argue  about  them  until  it  does  know  ? — Behind  the 
nebula  is  either  God  or  nothing — From  nothing  nothing 
can  proceed — If  the  psychism  of  man  exists,  then  we 
know  that  there  must  exist  a  greater  psychism — The 
'-  Spirit  of  the  Universe  '•' — It  must  be  akin  to  our  own 

Authorities  Cited 

Masson  —  Wordsworth  —  Emerson  —  Newton  — 
Le  Conte — Professor  James — Ladd 


PART   III 

CHAPTER  XXII     .  .*.'.".        .        .     167 

Summary  of  Parts  I.  and  II. — The  principles  of 
religion  the  outcome  of  spiritual  revelation — It  has 
always  been  universal — All  religions  embody  the  same 
principle — Moral  and  spiritual  loftiness  not  confined 
to  any — The  materialistic  ideas  of  the  derivation  of 
religion  fallacious,  and  now  abandoned — Consequences 
of  the  ecclesiastical  revolt  in  the  sixteenth  century — The 
abandonment  of  continuous  spiritualism  in  favour  of 
"  natural  law  '•'•  ;  the  result — Failure  of  science  to  in- 
vestigate due  to  a  baseless  a  priori — These  fields  outside 
the  natural  sciences — Popular  error  as  to  attitude  of 
great  teachers  of  science  and  philosophy 

Authorities  Cited     » 
Luther — Romanes — Haeckel — Herbert  Spencer 

CHAPTER  XXIII 173 

The  methods  and  acquisitions  of  science  ;  the  former 
beyond  all  praise,  the  latter  limited — Scientific  judg- 
ment changes  with  every  decade — It  does  not  com- 
prehend the  principles  on  which  it  is  founded — Ex- 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xv 

PACK 

Chapter  XXIII — continued 

amples  cited — Does  not  touch  the  real  or  vital  problems 
of  life  and  mind,  nor  of  the  universe — Even  mathe- 
matics extremely  limited — Failure  of  scientific  men 
largely  due  to  a  desire  to  find  a  single  cause,  for  which 
they  do  not  go  back  far  enough — The  data  not  in 
possession  of  physical  science — Intolerance  wholly 
unjustifiable  in  present  state  of  scientific  knowledge — 
Psychism  the  factor  which  alone  will  interpret  the 
universe — Just  as  scientific  as  light,  heat,  electricity  or 
gravitation — The  problems  become  simpler  as  the  base 
is  broadened — The  greatest  men  of  science  always 
opposed  to  materialism  or  empiricism — The  advent  of 
new  sciences  recently  which  make  the  solution  clear  ; 
disappearance  of  the  dark  days  of  psychology  which 
prevailed  thirty  years  ago 

Authorities  Cited 

Flammarion  —  Nus  —  Kant  —  Sir  W.  Crookes — 
Lord  Kelvin  —  Sir  John  Herschel  —  Lagrange  — 
Romanes  —  Herbert  Spencer — Paul  Janet — Huxley — 
De  Morgan 

CHAPTER  XXIV 181 

The  new  psychology — Catalogue  of  names  of 
authorities  in  Great  Britain,  America,  France,  Italy, 
Germany,  etc. — A  victory  and  demonstration  of  the 
higher  over  the  lower  ;  a  vindication  of  both  philosophy 
and  science — God's  fatherhood  and  man's  brotherhood 
mutually  dependent  on  each  other — The  life-study  of 
micro-organisms  —  Their  psychology  —  Romanes1 
change  of  view  with  larger  knowledge — His  new 
treatise  "  A  Candid  Examination  of  Religion, "•  to 
oppose  his  earlier  "  Candid  Examination  of  Theism  '•' — 
His  reasons  for  his  former  error — His  new  studies — His 
final  conclusion  in  favour  of  Theism,  God,  Spirit, 
revelation  and  psychism — Materialists  nearly  all 
miserable,  though  often  unconscious  of  the  cause — 
"  Moral  satisfactions  "  insufficient — The  converse 
among  the  spiritualists — Self-sacrifice — "  The  least 
important  thing  does  not  happen  except  as  God  wills  it  •'-' 

Authorities  Cited 

Long  list  at  beginning  of  chapter  ;  also  Romanes — 
Binet  —  McCosh  —  Wordsworth  —  S.  R.  Crockett  — 
Max  Muller — The  Author 

CHAPTER  XXV 191 

Sectarian  theology  in  the  light  of  universal  religion — 
Results  of  "  begrudging  God  His  own  universe, "-  and 
substituting  "  Natural  Law,?J  for  God's  ever-present 
volition  and  control — The  fatal  error  of  the  belief  that 
God  worked  once,  long  ago,  to  create,  and  will  come 
again,  some  time  in  the  indefinite  future,  to  judge  ;  and 
meanwhile  has  left  the  universe  to  -'-'  Nature,''  as  a 
substitute — Sectarian  creeds  of  this  type  have  never 


xvi  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter  XXV — continued 

been  really  believed  by  their  sincere  Christian  followers, 
but  have  nevertheless  stood  as  barriers  against  any 
defence  on  their  part  against  materialism — Have  indeed 
allied  the  churches  with  it — The  origin  of  "  gods  "  ; 
idols  representative  only — Absurdity  of  any  other 
position — Inherent  belief  in  and  knowledge  of  God 
among  primitive  peoples — Always  a  spirit — Psychology 
of  the  Eskimo,  and  of  other  ancient  American  peoples — 
The  American  race  not  derived,  at  least  since  the 
glacial  period,  from  the  Eastern  continent 

Authorities  Cited 

Jesus — Le  Bon — Maya  Codices — Dr  Cyrus  Thomas — 
Captain  Dennett,  R.N. — Parry — First  Missionaries  to 
the  Eskimo — Newton — Lamarck — Sir  John  Herschel — 
Romanes — Brinton 

CHAPTER  XXVI    ....*...     199 

Spiritualism  the  substratum  of  religion,  but  not 
identical  with  it — They  often  overlap  each  other — 
Sources  of  both  in  the  spiritual  beyond — Continuance 
of  life  after  death  the  basis  of  both — Demonstrated  by 
spiritualism  applying  scientific  methods  to  the  evidence 
— Mankind  immutably  allied  with  spirit  universal  and 
eternal — We  are  here  in  a  state  of  probation  and 
training  for  a  spiritual  individuality  hereafter — The 
alternative  of  belief  in  a  future  existence 

Authorities  Cited 

Christ — Stewart  and  Tait — Romanes — Sir  John 
Herschel — Lamarck — Lord  Kelvin 

CHAPTER  XXVII 205 

Popular  error  regarding  modern  writers  who  have 
been  assumed  to  teach  empiricism — Locke,  Hume, 
Comte,  John  Stuart  Mill,  Huxley,  Tyndall,  Herbert 
Spencer  and  Haeckel — Majority  of  these  not  men  of 
science — Locke  totally  misunderstood  ;  he  taught 
Christianity,  God,  spirits  and  revelation,  and  a  future 
life — His  attack  was  against  the  "  innate  principles  " 
of  Descartes,  and  for  direct  revelation — The  ancient 
Chinese  philosophy  identical  with  Locke's  view  of  our 
•-  faculties  " — Hume's  reduction  to  absurdity  and 
nihilism  was  a  joke  on  the  defects  of  Locke  and  Berkeley 
— Hume  believed  in  God — "•  There  can  be  no  belief  that 
there  can  be  no  belief  " — Comte  abandoned  his  atheism 
in  favour  of  what  Huxley  called  the  .worship  of  a 
wilderness  of  apes — John  Stuart  Mill  carried  his  system 
to  an  "  inexplicability  "  of  the  whole,  and  surrendered 
it  there 

Authorities  Cited 

Locke  —  Descartes  —  Leibnitz  —  Haeckel — Words- 
worth —  Huxley  —  Hume  —  Berkeley  —  Churchill — 
Morell  —  Mackintosh  —  Frederic  Harrison  —  Comte — 
St  Simon  —  Mill  —  Sir  W.  Hamilton 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xvii 


PACE 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 212 

Tyndall,  Huxley,  Spencer,  Haeckel — Tyndall's  con- 
cession, "  The  passage  from  the  physics  of  the  brain  to 
the  corresponding  facts  of  consciousness  is  unthink- 
able " — Huxley's  concession  that  any  argument  which 
leads  to  materialism  "  inevitably  carries  us  beyond 
it  " — Hammond  on  somnambulism — Herbert  Spencer's 
final  concession  just  before  his  death — "  Consciousness 
is  specialised  and  individualised  " — Empiricism  and 
transcendentalism — To  handle  these  questions  a 
writer  must  be  fully  equipped — Haeckel  concedes  that 
his  "  command  of  the  various  branches  of  science  is 
uneven  and  defective  " — This  is  demonstrated  in  his 
"  Riddle  of  the  Universe  '' — Examples  cited — He  deals 
principally  with  heredity  and  environment,  neither  of 
which  he  understands — His  argument  falls  of  itself 

Authorities  Cited 

Tyndall  —  Huxley  —  Berkeley  —  Hammond — 
Herbert  Spencer  —  Tennyson  —  Mrs  Browning — 
Murdock  —  Haeckel  —  Charles  Darwin 

CHAPTER  XXIX 226 

Heredity — The  psychology  of  Zoospores — Must  have 
come  with  a  leap — High-class  mentality  in  progeny  of 
lowest  seaweeds — Endowments  as  contrasted  with 
heredity — Haeckel's  scheme  of  heredity  erroneous,  and 
now  abandoned — There  is  no  basis  known,  or  which 
can  be  suspected,  to  account  for  heredity  by  physical 
means  or  processes — Heredity  is  psychical — With  the 
development  of  man  came  a  new  endowment,  and  not 
a  physical  survival — Pangenesis  insufficient,  and  has 
been  abandoned — The  development  of  latent  powers 
psychically  directed  and  controlled — The  subconscious 
department  of  the  mind — The  whole  of  no  man  is  in- 
carnated in  his  terrestrial  body — Telepathy  from  the 
infinite — The  infinite  energy  of  the  universe — Proto- 
plasm a  machine,  like  a  steam-engine,  instead  of  a 
chemical  product,  like  a  jelly — Physical  heredity 
discussed  and  disproven,  so  far  as  scientific  knowledge 
can  go — Examples — Haeckel  relied  upon  Romanes — 
Romanes  discredits  Haeckel,  and,  on  further  know- 
ledge and  investigation,  takes  the  opposite  side — 
He  had  hitherto  been  "  too  deeply  immersed  in  merely 
physical  research  " — Romanes  demonstrates,  in  his 
latest  work,  the  entire  invalidity  of  Haeckel's  theories 
and  conclusions — Metamorphosis  of  insects  ;  partheno- 
genesis ;  birth-marks 

Authorities  Cited 

Lord  Kelvin  —  Shakespeare  —  Newton  —  Coper- 
nicus —  Wordsworth  —  Haeckel  —  Weismann  — 
Sandeman  —  Professor  Shaler  —  Darwin  —  Sir  John 
Herschel  —  Professor  James  —  Myers  —  Sir  Oliver 
Lodge  —  Professor  Barrett  —  Nikola  Tesla  —  Prof. 
William  H.  Thomson  —  Professor  Conn  —  Bateson — 
Romanes — Or  ton — Oliver  W.  Holmes 

b 


xviii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

MM 

CHAPTER  XXX 231 

Spiritualism  pursues  the  methods  of  science — Sir 
W.  Crookes'  Presidential  Address  before  the  British 
Association — Professor  De  Morgan  on  supernormal 
phenomena — Modern  spiritualism  has  never  ceased  to 
advance — Persecution  has  not  affected  the  movement 
— Men  of  science  have  recently  taken  it  up  with 
triumphant  results — The  French  Royal  Academy  of 
Sciences  in  1831 — The  Dialectical  Committee  of 
London  in  1872 — The  great  Society  for  Psychical 
Research  in  1882 — Brief  description  of  the  latter — 
The  great  change  in  the  public  and  scientific  attitude 
since  1872 — The  investigations  of  Sir  W.  Crookes — 
Rejected  with  contempt  in  1872  by  the  Royal  Society, 
and  twenty-five  years  later  he  was  elected  President  of 
the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science — His  remarkable  address — "  I  have  nothing  to 
retract — I  adhere  to  my  already  published  statements — 
Indeed  I  might  add  much  thereto  M 

Authorities  Cited 

Professor  De  Morgan — French  Academy — Dr 
Carpenter — Dialectic  Committee — A.  R.  Wallace — 
Society  for  Psychical  Research — Sir  W.  Crookes — 
Quarterly  Review — Dr  Huggins — Sir  Oliver  Lodge 

CHAPTER  XXXI 240 

The  only  scientific  basis  of  evolution  is  volition — 
Spiritualism  coincident  with  a  universe  controlled  by  a 
psychism — Theology  threw  away  its  charter  when  it 
took  up  Nature  as  a  substitute  for  God,  whereby 
"  God  is  still  grudged  His  own  universe  " — But  for  this 
fatal  error,  there  never  could  have  been  anything  for 
religion  and  science  to  fight  about — When  divine 
volition,  constantly  operative,  is  granted,  all  diffi- 
culties disappear  of  themselves,  and  agnosticism 
becomes  a  mere  superstition  of  credulity — The  only 
tenable  theory  is  that  of  Lamarck,  that  •'  there  is  an 
intelligent  power  which  transcends  nature,  which  was 
before  nature,  and  is  independent  of  nature,  and 
controls  nature  to  do  its  will — and  this  is  what  we  call 
God" 

Authorities  Cited 

Herbert  Spencer  —  Romanes  —  Sir  John  Herschel — 
Lamarck  —  Longfellow  —  Olive  Schreiner  —  Professor 
William  James — Jalalu'd-Din  (author's  translation) 


PART   IV 

CHAPTER  XXXII 245 

Review  of  Parts  I.,  II.,  and  III. — Religion  uniformly 
found  among  all  peoples — The  cognition  of  the  co- 
ordinated presence  of  the  individual  body,  the 
individual  spirit,  the  spirit  of  nature,  and  the  spirit  of 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xix 

PACK 

Chapter  XXXII — continued 

the  universe,  intimate  and  inseparable  with  all  man- 
kind— Atheism  produces  misery  at  heart  among  those 
who  claim  to  be  atheists — Religions  fundamentally  the 
same — As  art  was  repudiated  by  Christianity,  because 
it  had  become  sacerdotal,  so  spiritualism  was  repudiated 
by  the  Reformation  because  it  had  become  sacerdotal — 
"  Natural  causation  "  became  the  common  god  of 
materialism  and  sectarian  theology — Private  Christians 
never  believed  at  heart  these  doctrines — The  means  of 
scientifically  overcoming  these  fatal  doctrines  had  to  be 
created — Embryology,  micro-psychology,  the  science 
of  the  subconscious,  comparative  religions,  biology, 
anthropology,  the  whole  of  the  scientific  bases  of  true 
psychology,  had  yet  to  be  developed — New  microscopic, 
spectroscopic  and  chemical  appliances  had  to  be  devised 
and  perfected — Time  was  required — God  was  preparing 
to  finally  destroy  the  power  of  matter  over  mind,  by 
means  of  the  power  of  mind  over  matter — The  work  has 
now  been  accomplished,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history 
of  the  world 

Authorities  Cited 

Leibnitz — Romanes — and      authorities      previously 
cited  on  these  subjects 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 249 

Testimony  of  able  authorities,  in  letters  to  the  Dia- 
lectical Society,  in  favour  of  the  truth  and  importance 
of  spiritual  phenomena — The  cosmical  spiritualism  of 
the  universe — The  individual  spiritualism  of  man — 
The  spiritualism  of  lower  life-organisms — Mediums — 
Huxley's  second  letter  to  the  Dialectical  Society — 
George  H.  Lewes  to  the  same — Dr  Davey,  J.  Garth 
Wilkinson,  Sir  Edwin  Arnold  and  others  to  the  same — 
Miss  A  Goodrich-Freer  on  crystal  vision — Are  crystal 
visions  subjective  or  objective  ? — Tyndall  to  Dia- 
lectical Society  on  presence  at  sittings  of  a  strongly 
magnetic  disturber — Carpenter  on  "  unconscious 
cerebration  " — Trollope  on  opinion  of  Bosco  that  the 
arts  of  legerdemain  cannot  imitate  these  phenomena — 
Unconscious  testimony  of  a  great  -'  magician  '-'  now 
living — Table  tipping  in  answer  to  mental  questions — 
Poltergeists — Importance  of  the  study — Sir  William 
Crookes  and  his  narrative  of  Katie  King — Her  last  ap- 
pearance— His  work  on  the  phenomena  of  spiritualism, 
originally  rejected  by  the  scientific  bodies  which  after- 
wards made  him  their  president — His  reaffirmation  of 
the  facts — Florence  Cook,  Sir  William  Crookes' 
scientific  tests  and  methods — Photographs  of  the 
materialised  Katie  King — Spirit  photographsconsidered 
— Can  the  invisible  and  intangible  be  photographed  ? — 
Examples — Analogies  with  other  natural  phenomena — 
The  murage — Elementary  forces  involved — The 
phenomena  of  light  and  sound — Luminous  paints,  in- 
visible end  of  solar  spectrum — Modern  views  of  matter 

62 


xx  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Authorities  Cited 

Lewes  —  Davey  —  Wilkinson  —  Crossland  —  Sir 
Edwin  Arnold  —  Simpson  —  A.  Goodrich-Freer  —  Earl 
of  Stanhope  —  Burton  —  Hockley  —  Tyndall — 
James  —  Carpenter  —  Trollope  —  Bosco  —  Seybert — 
Lewis  —  Sir  W.  Crookes  —  Marmery  —  Professor 
Knott— The  Author 

CHAPTER  XXXIV 265 

Carlyle  on  miracles — Evidence  by  Christian  converts 
of  the  reality  of  supernormal  manifestations  of  Eskimo 
and  other  psychics — How  much  do  we  know  of  the  laws 
of  nature  as  actual  laws  ? — "  Have  any  deepest 
scientific  individuals  yet  dived  down  to  the  foundations 
of  the  universe,  and  gauged  everything  there  ?  !l — 
"  These  scientific  individuals  have  been  nowhere  but 
where  we  also  are  " — The  power  of  custom  ;  philosophy 
is  a  continual  battle  against  it — The  transcendental — 
Psychism  among  the  Eskimo — Angekoks  converted  to 
Christianity  "  are  steadfast  in  asserting  that  there  is  an 
interference  of  some  supernatural  agency  " — Crystal 
vision  among  the  Eskimo — Personal  narratives  which 
follow  are  not  intended  to  be  startling,  but  are  simple 
examples  of  the  various  classes  of  phenomena  to  which 
they  relate — The  catchword  "  Magnetism  "  as  a  substi- 
tute for  an  explanation  ;  also  "  Hypnotism,"  "  Sug- 
gestion," and  the  like — These  are  mere  terms,  like  the 
algebraic  X,  Y  and  Z,  for  unexplained  phenomena, 
phenomena  to  be  properly  explained  and  designated 
later  on 

Authorities  Cited 

Carlyle  —  Nevius  —  Dennett  —  Chinese  Records — 
Sahagun  —  Greenland  Missionaries 

CHAPTER  XXXV 270 

Practical  cases  continued — Crystal  vision — Clairvoy- 
ance— Transferred  mental  power — Crystal  vision,  as 
mentioned  in  the  Bible — Among  the  Eskimo — The 
remarkable  case  observed  by  Colonel  James  Smith 
among  the  Red  Indians,  in  what  is  now  Eastern  Ohio, 
before  the  Revolutionary  War — Its  effect  on  the 
Indians — Manetohcoa,  the  old  conjurer — Crystal  vision 
among  the  Eastern  Cherokees,  reported  by  Mr  James 
Mooney  of  the  U.S.  Bureau  of  Ethnology — The  fate 
of  Cherokee  Confederate  soldiers  predicted — Crystal 
vision  among  the  Aztecs — Tescatlipoca  the  god  of 
crystal  vision — Among  the  ancient  Mayas — Its  universal 
practice  to-day  in  Yucatan — In  Peru,  in  Northern  Chile, 
among  the  Apaches — Not  difficult  to  acquire — Miss 
Goodrich-Freer 's  discovery  of  a  colony  in  England 
which  had  developed  it  among  themselves — Clair- 
voyance and  supernormal  revelation — Eph's  bullet — 
Was  it  a  case  of  telepathy  ? — Use  of  "  Planchette  "  in 
China — Dowsing  among  Western  nations — Exhaustive 
reports  by  Professor  W.  F.  Barrett,  F.R.S.— The  Divining 
Rod — Interpretation  of  the  phenomena — Analogous  to 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xxi 

PAGE 

Chapter  XXXV — continued 

other  cases  of  subconscious  mental  projection — Cases  cited 
— Clairvoyance  of  the  dying — Clairvoyance  of  a  dead 
brother  by  a  dying  boy  who  did  not  know  that  his  brother 
had  died — Case  of  fascination  of  a  large  frog  by  a  huge 
rattlesnake — The  phenomena  described — The  influence 
exercised  by  great  commanders — A  river  of  command, 
Emerson  calls  it — Wolseley  on  analogous  power  in 
military  commanders — Spirit  rappings — Their  connection 
with  other  physical  phenomena  of  spiritualism — 
Professor  Augustus  De  Morgan's  experiments — His 
scientific  qualifications — The  preface  to  his  wife's  book 
"  From  Matter  to  Spirit  " — His  remarkable  experience 
with  a  group  of  rappers — Statement  of  the  experience  of 
a  scientific  friend 

Authorities  Cited 

The  Bible — Col.  James  Smith — President  Roosevelt — 
Manetohcoa — U.S.  Bureau  of  Ethnology — The  Cherokee 
Indian  Report — Mooney — Daniel  G.  Brinton — Tcheng- 
Ki-Tong  —  President  Martin  —  Professor  Barrett — A. 
Goodrich- Freer  —  Professor  De  Mortillet  —  Reverend 
Father  Roe — F.  Napier  Denison — Andrew  Lang — 
Professor  Krafft-Ebing — Professor  Charcot — L.  A. 
Sherman — Frank  R.  Alderman — Sir  William  Crookes 
— Professor  Barrett — Jevons — Marmery — Mrs  De  Morgan 
— Susan  Dabney  Smedes  —  Lord  Wolseley  —  R.  W. 
Emerson — T.  S.  G.  Dabney — Mrs  McHatton-Ripley — 
Professor  De  Morgan 

CHAPTER  XXXVI 293 

Experiments    continued Telepathy — Acceptance 

by  physical  science — The  Hertzian  Waves — Wireless 
telegraphy — Telepathy  from  the  living  as  a  difficulty  to 
be  overcome,  in  alleged  communications  from  the  dead 
— Means  for  overcoming  the  difficulty — Inter jectors, 
accidental  mis-statement,  and  cross-correspondences — 
The  system  of  cross-correspondences  carried  on  by  the 
Society  for  Psychical  Research — The  alleged  com- 
municators— The  percipients  and  so-called  automatic 
writings — Trance  phenomena — The  subliminal  self — 
Abstract  of  certain  cross  -  correspondence  records — 
Answers  to  questions  as  to  the  future — The  charges 
of  '-  malobservation  "  and  "  lapse  of  memory  '•'  con- 
sidered—  The  scope  and  force  of  the  objections 
examined — Same  charges  can  be  made  against  all 
human  testimony  —  If  valid  would  destroy  the 
practice  of  jurisprudence  —  Multiple  observation, 
and  the  recollected  effects  on  others  present  minimise 
the  importance  of  the  objections — Malobservation 
principally  applicable  where  the  attention  has  been 
diverted — Memory  may  drop  matter  out,  but  cannot 
add  new  matter,  excepting  by  conscious  fraud,  under 
cross-examination — Poltergeist  case  in  Yucatan  in  the 

Esars  about  1590 — "  Speaking  like  a  parrot l! — John 
j  Stephens'  report  of  the  Yucatan  poltergeist 


xxii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Authorities  Cited 

F.  W.  H.  Myers — Dr  Hodgson— Dr  W.  D.Bayley,S.P.R. 
— Mrs  Piper — Principal  Graham — Gurney — Sidgwick — 
Mrs  Verrall — Journal  S.P.R. — Sir  Oliver  Lodge — Miss 
Goodrich-Freer — John  L.  Stephens — The  Cura  Don 
Aguilar,  of  Yucatan — D.  G.  Brinton — Modern  Mexico 

CHAPTER  XXXVII 303 

Accurate  prevision  of  death  by  a  soldier  months 
before,  with  abstract  of  evidence — General  John  B. 
Gordon's  chapter  on  premonitions — The  case  of  Wm. 
Shuler,  Co.  I.,  n8th  Penna.  Volunteers,  killed  at  the 
Battle  of  the  Wilderness,  5th  May  1864 — Accurate 
prevision  ;  saw  the  place  pictured  months  before — 
"  Will  be  killed  in  first  battle,  and  that  early  in  the 
fight  '•' — The  spot  was  far  beyond,  in  the  midst  of  a 
dense  wilderness,  and  miles  within  the  Confederate 
lines — Later  on  "  I  have  just  five  days  more  to  live  " — 
Before  the  charge,  "  Yes,  just  beyond  those  works,  in 
that  little  cluster  of  woods,  on  the  hill "  (pointing  with 
his  finger),  "  I  shall  fall — I  see  the  spot ;  I  know  it  well !! 
— How  line  of  advance  of  thewhole  charge  was  deflected, 
so  that  Shuler's  company  came  to  cross  this  hill — His 
death — Verifications  from  military  orders  and  move- 
ments reported  in  the  U.S.  Official  War  Records,  not 
published  till  after  the  publication  of  Dr  Layman's 
original  narrative — The  case  of  Captain  McKavett — 
Monterey — The  case  narrated  by  General  Oglethorpe — 
The  Battle  of  Malplaquet — The  recent  case  of  William 
Terriss,  the  well-known  actor 

Authorities  Cited 

Dr  A.  Layman — General  John  B.  Gordon — W.  W: 
Shuler — J.  L.  Smith's  History  of  the  Corn  Exchange 
Regiment — Dr  S.  Compton  Smith — Dr  E.  R.  Chamber- 
lain— General  Taylor — General  Worth — Captain  Henry 
McKavett — West  Point  Military  Register — Boswell — 
Washington  Irving  —  Samuel  Johnson  —  General 
Oglethorpe — Frederick  Lane — Frank  Podmore — London 
Times — Various  witnesses  cited 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII 316 

Unpublished  experiments  continued — Changing 
weights — Slate  writings — Automatic  writings  purport- 
ing to  be  from  spirits  of  the  dead — Old  friend  of  the 
author — His  experiences — Hough,  the  boy  medium — 
Experiments  of  Sir  William  Crookes,  in  England — 
Mr  P.'s  experiments  with  spring-scale  ;  weights  varied 
at  call — His  slate-writing  experiments — J.  K.  writes 
on  small,  closed  and  sealed  slates,  in  three  colours — 
The  automatically  written,  original  record  of  many 
friends  and  relatives  in  the  spirit  world,  by  the  hand  of 
Mr  P.'s  wife — Character  of  the  communications — 
Table  tipping  and  rapping  with  same  psychic — Her 
early  death — Testimony  of  surviving  husband — Final 
loss  of  control 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xxiii 

FACE 

Authorities  Cited 

The  author  and  Mr  P. — Hough — Katie  King — Sir 
William  Crookes — Slade — John  King  (Morgan) — Pro- 
ceedings S.P.R. 

CHAPTER  XXXIX 325 

Automatic  writing  experiments  continued — "  Inter- 
jectors  "  suddenly  appearing — Evidential  matter — 
Test  of  genuineness  of  the  P.  Record — Character  of  the 
communication — Original  in  possession  of  the  author 
by  bequest  of  Mr  P. — Mr  P.'s  testimony  regarding  the 
personal  value  of  the  communications — His  warning 
against  consulting  mediums  for  "  information  " — 
How  the  sittings  closed — Interjector  appears  in  a 
Hodgson  sitting  with  Mrs  Piper — "  I  was  a  d — d  idiot  " 
— Interjector  in  one  of  Dr  Bayley's  sittings — A  sister 
(see  page  295) 

Authorities  Cited 

Mr  P. — Dr  Hodgson — Mrs  Piper — Miss  B. — 
Hudson — Dr  Bayley 

CHAPTER  XL 330 

Planchette  case  of  automatic  writing,  in  which  an 
inter jector  appeared  to  narrate  an  irrelevant  tragedy — 
Testimony  of  Mr  Charles  Morris,  of  the  S.P.R. — 
Original  record  made  at  the  time,  by  Mr  Ford,  one  of 
the  sitters  ;  original  planchette  record  still  preserved — 
Young  girl  appears  with  narration  of  persecution  and 
violent  death — Totally  unknown  to  all  the  sitters — 
Refers  them  to  the  sisters  of  the  President  of  the  Penna. 
R.R.  Co.— The  result 

Authorities  Cited 

Charles  Morris  —  Cope  —  Leidy  —  John  Ford  —  Miss 
Annie  McDowell  —  Miss  Adelaide  Thompson  —  Miss 
Annie  Thompson. 

CHAPTER  XLI 334 

Experiments  continued  —  Trumpet  mediums  — 
Further  experiments  in  prevision — Veridical  dreams — 
Experiment  of  Rev.  Thomas  W.  Illman  with  a  trumpet 
medium,  narrated  by  himself — Discovery,  by  message 
from  deceased  wife,  of  a  surviving  husband  going  into 
intemperance,  and  who  was  reformed  in  consequence — 
The  same  trumpet  medium  afterwards  in  Philadelphia — 
Dr  Layman's  conversation  with  Dr  Holcomb,  deceased, 
received  in  a  lighted  room — Experience  of  a  transient 
visitor  to  Philadelphia  with  the  same  trumpet 
medium — Three  veridical  dreams  before  confinement, 
made  comprehensible  and  verified  by  the  birth  of  the 
child  a  week  or  more  afterwards 

Authorities  Cited 

De  Morgan — Rev.  Thomas  W.  Illman — Dr  Layman — 
Dr  Holcomb — Three  Ladies  personally  known  to  the 
Author 


xxiv  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  XLII 339 

Reluctance  to  relate  supernormal  experiences — 
When  this  is  removed  they  are  found  to  be  general — 
Materialisations — Common  opinion  that  doctors  are 
materialistic  or  atheistic — It  is  an  error  ;  when  the 
veneer  is  removed  the  reverse  is  found  to  be  the  case — 
Dr  Bayley's  paper  before  a  medical  society — How  it 
was  received — The  dean  of  a  medical  college  narrates 
one  supernormal  case — A  sudden  change  among  the 
doctors,  and  dozens  of  cases  were  narrated,  until  after 
three  o'clock  A.M.,  when  the  meeting  adjourned  with 
many  others  seeking  to  narrate  their  own,  also — 
Materialising  stances — Two  members  of  the  S.P.R. 
describe  an  inexplicable  dematerialisation  —  The 
author  narrates  a  similar  case  which  he  cannot  explain — 
The  medical  profession  and  immortality — Several  appari- 
tional  cases  of  the  dead 

Authorities  Cited 

Sir  W;  Crookes— Dr  Bayley— Dr  Schofield— Dr 
Dudley,  Dean — The  Author — Ridgway's  Magazine — 
Census  of  physicians — Professor  Barrett — T.  A.  Trollope 
— F.  W.  Hs  Myers — Lady  Gore  Booth — Society  for 
Psychical  Research 

CHAPTER  XLIII 350 

Some  possible  explanation  of  materialising  pheno- 
mena— The  sources  of  material  forms  have  been  sought 
to  be  found  in  the  atmosphere,  from  void  space,  from 
the  personality  of  the  medium,  or  from  that  of  those 
present — Our  popular  conception  of  void  space 
erroneous — The  luminiferous  ether — Its  constitution 
considered — Only  differs  from  material  substance  in  its 
lack  of  gravitation — Its  enormous  density,  giving  a 
"  bursting  pressure,"  says  Sir  John  Herschel,  of  eleven 
billion  pounds  per  square  inch — How  its  density  has 
been  determined — Free  ether  and  bound  ether — Under 
certain  circumstances  "  agglomerates,"  to  some  extent, 
with  tangible  matter — The  free  ether  of  space  harnessed  » 

for  working  electrical  machines  and  dynamos — Tesla 
says  we  will  soon  get  it  directly  from  space — Franklin 
accomplished  this  by  his  kites — Could  disembodied 
spirits  (granting  such)  find  a  framework  in  living  and 
sympathising  friends,  and  could  they  "  agglomerate  "~ 
with  this  even  an  infinitesimal  fraction  of  the  surround- 
ing bound  ether,  there  would  be  far  more  tangibility  and 
weight  than  could  possibly  be  required  —  Reference 
to  preceding  chapter  on  '•'•  Invention,"  as  supernormal — 
Perhaps  this  "  invention  "  has  been  already  made, 
beyond  our  normal  limits — A  dim  recognition  of  such 
a  hypothesis  in  the  nomenclature  of  f-  spiritualistic  " 
phenomena 

Authorities  Cited 

Sir  John  Herschel — Sir  Oliver  Lodge — Fresnel — 
Tesla — Franklin — Sir  W.  Crookes — Herbert  Spencer 
— Lord  Kelvin 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xxv 

PACK 

CHAPTER  XLIV 357 

Some  personal  experiments  in  materialisation — In 
discussing  the  ether,  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the 
author  does  not  seek  to  broach  a  theory — Such 
phenomena  common  everywhere,  even  prior  to  birth  of 
history — The  facts  cannot  be  overcome,  in  this  day  of 
earnest  work,  by  an  a  priori — An  experiment  of  the 
author's,  in  1902,  written  down  at  once — Phenomena 
were  not  due  to  confederates,  nor  to  hypnotic  sugges- 
tion— Sitting  described — Appearance,  so  far  as  author 
could  determine,  of  representation  of  deceased  friend 
and  patient — Means  of  identification — Family  con- 
nections— Little  • '  Patie  "  takes  a  hand — The  theory  of 
hallucination  considered. 

Authorities  Cited 

Phila:  Section  S.P.R.— Sir  William  Crookes— De 
Morgan — '-  Old  Mother  Wheat  " — !£  Namouna  l>- — 
The  Author 

CHAPTER  XLV 365 

Some  further  experiments  with  psychical  phenomena 
— A  medium  who  visits  Philadelphia,  and  is  known  to 
the  author — Eminently  respectable — Her  family  and 
history — Her  cabinet — Commences  with  the  phenomena 
of  passing  matter  through  matter,  chairs,  coats, 
handkerchiefs,  etc.,  etc. — Time  required  from  three  to 
nine  seconds — Hands  bound  together  ;  at  author's 
request  he  snapped  a  rubber  band  on  in  addition — 
Performances  went  on  the  same — Materialisations  pro- 
duced in  her  presence — Author  physically  examined 
the  medium  immediately  afterwards — The  result — 
Evidence  for  this  medium's  fairness — One  gentleman 
always  present  for  the  past  four  years,  the  husband  of 
the  daughter,  a  Philadelphian,  formerly  in  business 
here,  a  churchman,  and  a  man  of  the  highest  character, 
who  must  know  to  a  certainty  if  the  phenomena  are  not 
genuine — The  money  profit  relatively  nothing  in  this 
case — Facts  can  only  be  rationally  accounted  for  on 
the  ground  that  the  phenomena,  so  far  as  the  medium 
is  concerned,  are  genuine,  and  that  she  is  controlled  by 
higher  powers  than  her  own  to  continue  her  laborious 
and  relatively  profitless  work — On  this  basis  her 
daughter  and  son-in-law  must  feel  the  same  necessity, 
and  the  problem  can  be  rationally  solved 

Authorities  Cited 

Members  of  the  Phila.  Section  S.P.R.— Sir  William 
Crookes — Zollner — The  Author 

CHAPTER  XLVI 372 

Inconsequential  character  of  much  of  the  phenomena, 
which  may  yet  be  of  extreme  value  for  scientific 
purposes — The  case  of  John  Steefa — The  author  has  no 
recollection  of  such  a  person — He  appeared  at  a  meeting 
of  four  friends,  of  whom  the  author  was  one,  and 


xxvi  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter  XLVI — continued 

worked  the  table  tipping — Brought  back  experiences 
of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion — What  he  claimed  to  have 
been,  and  how  he  came  to  know  the  author — Was  a 
coloured  ammunition  teamster  in  Longstreet's  corps  in 
the  Antietam  Campaign  of  1862 — His  message,  to  keep 
up  the  experiments,  was  worthless — Occupied  a  couple 
of  hours  in  telling  his  story — Another  case  ;  non- 
evidential  book  of  sermons,  but  from  what  source  could 
they  have  been  delivered  verbatim  to  a  young  girl  ? 

Authorities  Cited 
John  Steefa— The  Author 

CHAPTER  XL VII 376 

Visions  of  the  sane — Apparently  akin  to  crystal 
vision — Described  by  Galton  and  others — Differ  from 
visions  of  the  insane,  in  that  they  are  not  "  fixed  ideas,'8 
and  do  not  dominate  the  personality  of  the  observer — 
They  are  seen  as  externalised  visions — Their  brilliancy 
and  actions — Conversations  go  on — They  are  not  con- 
trollable by  the  will  or  belief  of  the  observer — Cases 
narrated — The  author's  experiences — Do  not  reproduce 
lapsed  memories  ;  are  intelligible  and  coherent — Do 
not  embody  prevision,  revelation  or,  apparently, 
spiritualism 

Authorities  Cited 
Galton — A  patient  of  the  author's — The  Author 

CHAPTER  XLVIII 383 

The  psychology  of  religious  conversion — Its  basis  in 
the  subconscious  department  of  the  mind — In  con- 
nection, apparently,  with  some  higher  source — The 
subconscious  described — Its  connection  with  the 
normal  consciousness — The  phenomena  of  crystal 
vision  due  to  linking  these  departments  together 
temporarily — Religious  conversion  supernormal,  in  that 
it  is  often  opposed  to  heredity,  to  will,  to  experience,  to 
association  and  to  self-interest — The  subconsciousness 
intelligently  active  during  coma — The  organising 
power  works  during  unconsciousness — Examples  of 
conversion  in  author's  personal  experience 

Authorities  Cited 

Professor  William  James — the  Author — Dr  J.  F.  C. 
Hecker— Dr  R.  H.  Crooke,  M.R.C.S.—"  Child  Pilgrim- 
ages " 

CHAPTER  XLIX 388 

The  summing  up  by  Mrs  De  Morgan  of  the  Bible 
evidence  for  spiritualism  of  the  types  known  to-day — 
Her  statements  regarding  the  WORD  OF  GOD  in  the  Bible 
— They  have  lost  their  original  meaning — The  root- 
meanings  of  the  word  in  the  original  languages — Its 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xxvii 

FACE 

Chapter  XLIX — continued 

use  with  those  meanings  confirmed  by  the  record — 
Emanation,  influx,  inspiration — The  audible  voice,  the 
impelling  influence — by  writing,  by  vision — "  En- 
quiring at  the  Lord  " — When  the  influence  failed  to 
come  to  Elisha  he  called  for  a  minstrel — The  Word  of 
the  Lord, in  the  New  Testament — The  physico-psychical 
means  employed  by  Elisha  in  raising  the  dead  child — 
The  means  employed  by  Jesus — Laying  on  of  hands — 
Mighty  spiritual  works  inhibited  by  unbelief — The 
phenomena  at  Pentecost — The  construction  of  the 
ephod,  and  the  "  Urim  and  Thummim  " — Their  uses — 
Priests  not  required  for  their  use — The  incident  of  a 
misused  modern  theology  ;  children  "  who  sit  round 
and  sing  hymns  about  blood  and  wrath  and  damnation 
with  the  utmost  good  humour  " — Le  Bon  on  religion  ; 
the  master  of  all  human  agencies — Loss  of  religion ; 
the  most  important  event  that  could  ever  occur — 
Religion  alone  allows  of  human  happiness — Mrs  De 
Morgan  connects  the  spiritual  phenomena  of  the  Bible 
with  our  own  at  the  present  time,  and  demonstrates 
their  identity.  Mutual  service  between  the  occupants  of 
the  seen  and  the  unseen — Sir  Oliver  Lodge's  statement  in 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research, 
June  1909 — Citation  from  the  poem  "  Abou  Ben  Adhem >l 

Authorities  Cited 

Professor  De  Morgan — Mrs  De  Morgan — Various  books 
of  the  Bible  cited  at  length — The  Apostle  John — Elisha — 
Le  Bon— The  Word  of  God— Sir  Oliver  Lodge— Leigh 
Hunt 

CHAPTER  L 397 

General  consideration  of  the  subject — The  phenomena 
practically  conceded  by  the  very  authorities  popularly 
supposed  to  deny  them — Antagonistic  theories  have 
all  broken  down  hi  the  light  of  recent  science — The 
criteria  of  truth — Volumes  could  be  filled  with  personal 
narratives  of  supernormal  phenomena — "  The  rare- 
ness of  communication  between  the  two  worlds,"  says 
Garth  Wilkinson,  "  is  to  me  one  of  the  greatest  miracles  ; 
a  proof  of  the  economic  wisdom,  the  supreme  manage- 
ment, the  extraordinary  statesmanship  of  the 
Almighty  !! — Huxley's  position  as  to  a  choice  between 
"  absolute  materialism  and  absolute  idealism  'l — John 
Stuart  Mill's  cul  de  sac  of  "  inexplicability  " — Herbert 
Spencer's  concession,  in  his  last  paper,  that  our  con- 
sciousness has  been  "  individualised  and  specialised  "- — 
Dr  W.  B.  Carpenter  on  "  unconscious  cerebration  8? — 
His  abstract  presented  to  the  Dialectical  Society — Its 
remarkable  conclusion  :  "  Immediate  insight,  which  in 
man's  highest  phase  of  existence,  will  not  only  supersede 
the  laborious  operations  of  his  intellect,  but  will  reveal 
to  him  truths  and  glories  of  the  unseen,  which  the 
intellect  alone  can  see  but '  as  through  a  glass  darkly  '  '• 
— Pilate's  question,  "  What  is  truth  ?  '* — The  criteria 
of  truth — Leibnitz  first  pointed  out  "  universality  " 


xxviii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter  L — continued 

and  •"  necessity  !!  —  The  three  criteria  of  truth  as 
presented  by  President  McCosh  ;  Self-evidence  ; 
Necessity  ;  Universality — Discussion  of  the  above — 
Transcendentalism  alone  embraces  all  the  above — 
Animism  and  the  world-soul  considered — Certain 
constant  phenomena  seem  to  point,  in  certain  cases,  to 
surviving  and  intelligent  spirits  of  the  dead  ;  first, 
these  appearances  uniformly  claim  to  be  such,  and  there 
appears  to  be  no  sufficient  motive,  if  not  true,  for  such 
universal  lying  ;  secondly,  the  phenomena  of  prevision 
and  prophecy,  which  seem  to  be  of  necessity  intelligent 
and  personal  ;  and,  thirdly,  the  well-known  phantasms 
of  the  living,  in  which  the  intelligent  psychical  person- 
ality of  those  living  appear  to  others  at  a  distance,  who 
are  also  living 

Be  the  hypotheses  or  final  determinations  what  they 
may,  the  facts  are  so  numerous  and  so  authentic  that 
the  time  for  their  dismissal  with  an  epithet  has  for  ever 
gone  by — The  results  of  personal  investigation  by 
capable  observers  pointed  out — No  vein  of  treasure  on 
this  earth  so  rich,  and  none  secured  with  so  little  labour 
— Lord  Tennyson's  lines  on  "  The  Ghost  in  Man  " 

Authorities  Cited 

Garth  Wilkinson — Huxley — John  Stuart  Mill — 
Herbert  Spencer  —  Dr  W.  B.  Carpenter  —  Pontius 
Pilate — Walt  Whitman — Berkeley — Locke — Professor 
Bo  wen — Leibnitz — Carly  le — M  cCosh — Shakespeare — 
J.  C.  Harris — Tennyson 

INDEX 407 


PART   I 


SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

CHAPTER   I 

PSYCHOLOGY  AS  A   SCIENCE 

IF  the  time  is  ever  to  come  in  the  religious  history 
of  the  human  race  when  what  may  be  called  God's 
Science  of  Man  is  to  supersede  theology,  which  is 
man's  Science  of  God,  that  time  is  already  here. 

Systems  have  been  built  up,  syllogisms  con- 
structed, upon  false  or  partial  premises,  now  de- 
monstrated to  have  been  such,  both  in  theology  and 
the  natural  sciences,  which  have  involved  mankind 
in  mental  and  spiritual  fallacies  of  incalculable  evil 
to  the  past,  present  and  future  of  the  race.  The 
data  are  now  at  hand  to  change  all  this  ;  God's  own 
good  time  has  come,  for  the  theologians,  and  for  the 
advances  of  science  for  men,  and  the  followers  of 
science,  and  it  has  been  found  that  these  lines  of 
advance  are  converging  lines,  and  paths  of  the  old 
battlefields  are  destined  very  soon  to  unite  in  one 
broad  highway,  with  the  spiritual  and  divine  ap- 
proaching from  one  direction  and  man's  pyschical  and 
human  advancing  from  the  other,  so  that  the  grim 
conflicts  of  old  will  cease,  not  only  in  the  Christian 
religion,  and  among  Christian  peoples,  but  in  all 
forms  of  religion,  and  among  all  religious  peoples. 

The  broad  lines  of  conflict  are  now  seen  to  have 
been  erroneous,  among  the  highest  men  of  science, 
philosophy  and  religion.  As  the  knowledge  of  these 
momentous  facts  sinks  downward  until  it  is  finally 
felt  and  recognised  by  all,  we  can  foresee  the  vast 
shifting  of  human  motives  to  higher  planes,  and  the 


4  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

entire  reconstruction  of  lower  ideals  and  practices, 
until  we  can  realise  what  Herbert  Spencer,  in  one  of 
his  latest  papers,  Feeling  versus  Intellect,  laid  down, 
and  which  precisely  coincided  with  Professor  Shaler 
of  Harvard  University  in  his  Interpretation  of  Nature 
("  Key  to  Education  ")  ;  and  is  as  follows  : — 

"iMind  properly  interpreted  is  coextensive  with 
consciousness  :  all  parts  of  consciousness  are  parts 
of  mind.  Sensations  and  emotions  are  parts  of  con- 
sciousness, and  so  far  from  being  its  minor  com- 
ponents they  are  its  major  components.  That  part 
which  we  ordinarily  ignore  when  speaking  of  mind 
is  its  essential  part.  The  emotions  are  the  masters, 
the  intellect  is  the  servant.  .  .  .  Considered  in  respect 
of  their  fitness  for  life,  individual  and  social,  those  in 
whom  the  altruistic  sentiments  predominate  are  far 
superior  to  those  who,  with  powers  of  perception 
and  reasoning  of  the  highest  kinds,  join  anti-social 
feelings — unscrupulous  egoism  and  disregard  of 
fellow-men.  ...  As  implied  above,  this  undue  faith 
in  teaching  is  mainly  caused  by  the  erroneous  con- 
ception of  mind.  Were  it  fully  understood  that  the 
emotions  are  the  masters  and  the  intellect  the 
servant,  it  would  be  seen  that  little  can  be  done  by 
improving  the  servant  while  the  masters  remain  un- 
improved. Improving  the  servant  does  but  give  the 
masters  more  power  of  achieving  their  ends." 

And  on  this  fundamental  fallacy  was  based  all 
the  dogmatism  and  false  inference  of  the  syllogistic 
theology  and  inferential  natural  science  of  the  past. 

Professor  William  James,  Professor  of  Philosophy 
in  Harvard  University,  in  his  Hibbert  Foundation 
Lectures  in  England,  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience, 
says  of  this  perverted  theology : 

"  When  I  was  a  boy,  I  used  to  think  that  the 
closet-naturalist  must  be  the  vilest  type  of  wretch 
under  the  sun.  But  surely  the  systematic  theologi- 
ans are  the  closet-naturalists  of  the  deity,  even  in 
Captain  Mayne  Reid's  sense.  What  is  their  deduc- 
tion of  metaphysical  attributes  but  a  shuffling  and 
matching  of  pedantic  dictionary-adjectives,  aloof 
from  morals,  aloof  from  human  needs,  something 


PSYCHOLOGY  AS  A  SCIENCE  5 

that  might  be  worked  out  from  the  mere  word  '  God  ' 
by  one  of  those  logical  machines  of  wood  and  brass 
which  recent  ingenuity  has  contrived,  as  well  as  by  a 
man  of  flesh  and  blood.  They  have  the  trail  of  the 
serpent  over  them." 

So  the  Reverend  Dr  Davies  of  the  English  Church 
in  his  "  Mystic  London  "  says  : 

"  When  persons  ask  me,  as  they  often  do,  with  a 
look  of  unmitigated  horror,  '  Is  it  possible  that  you,  a 
clergyman,  are  a  spiritualist  ?  '  I  am  often  inclined  to 
answer, '  Yes,  madam  '  (for  it  is  generally  a  lady  who 
puts  the  question  in  that  particular  shape),  '  I  am  a 
spiritualist,  and  precisely  because  I  am  a  clergyman/" 
And  he  points  to  No.  72  of  the  Constitutions  and 
Canons  Ecclesiastical  of  the  Church  of  England, 
"  Neither  shall  any  minister  not  licensed,  attempt, 
upon  any  pretence  whatever,  either  of  possession  or 
obsession,  by  fasting  or  prayer,  to  cast  out  any  devil 
or  devils." 

It  is  for  the  above  reasons  that  Max  Miiller,  in  the 
preface  to  his  "  Chips,"  says  that  every  human  in- 
stitution— therefore,  religion  itself,  so  far  as  man 
can  affect  it — is  exposed  to  inevitable  decay.  And 
adds  :  "  Accordingly,  a  religion  which  is  not  waiting 
for  a  revival  is  waiting  only  till  it  be  swept  away." 

But  he  says  also,  that  "  Christianity  has  always 
reformed  itself,  and  will  to  the  end  of  time  continue 
to  reform  itself,  by  going  back  to  the  words  and  to  the 
life  of  Christ." 

Romanes,  too,  puts  this  very  clearly,  by  saying, 
just  before  his  death,  that  "  No  one,  even  the  most 
orthodox,  has  as  yet  learnt  this  lesson  of  religion  to 
anything  like  fulness.  God  is  still  grudged  His  own 
universe,  so  to  speak,  as  far  and  as  often  as  He  can 
possibly  be,"  but  feels  absolute  certainty  of  the  con- 
tinuance and  growth  of  genuine  Christianity  to  uni- 
versal acceptance,  by  demonstrating  that  there  is  not 
one  of  the  doctrines  and  teachings  of  Christ  Himself, 
'  Whether  in  natural  science,  ethics,  political 
economy,  or  elsewhere,  which  the  subsequent  growth 
of  human  knowledge  has  had  to  discount." 

What  a  mess  this  old  classical  theology,  which 


6  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

never  knew  or  heard  of  natural  science,  ethics, 
political  economy,  "  or  elsewhere,"  must  necessarily 
have  made  of  Christ's  doctrines  and  teachings.  Is  it 
any  wonder  that,  armed  as  they  were,  and  solid 
under  their  coats  of  mail,  they  could  say  ? — 

"  I  stood  up  in  my  pulpit  high 
And  measured  God's  right  hand, 
And  hurled  the  lightnings  of  His  wrath 
Across  a  godless  land  !  "- 

I  will  quote,  in  order  to  show  the  vast  change 
which  has  recently  taken  place  in  the  conflict  between 
theology  and  religion,  from  one  of  the  papers  by  the 
Rev.  Washington  Gladden,  D.D.,  LL.D.  in  "The 
Great  Religions  of  the  World,"  containing  a  series 
of  papers  by  Professor  Giles  (Cambridge),  Professor 
Davids  (University  College,  London),  Professor  Ross 
(same  college),  Oscar  Mann  (Orientalist,  Royal  Library, 
Berlin),  Sir  A.  C.  Lyall,  K.C.B.,  G.C.I.E.  (Council  of 
Secretary  of  State  for  India),  Frederic  Harrison, 
Rev.  M.  Gaster,  Ph.D.  (Chief  Rabbi  of  the  Sephardi 
Communities  of  England)  ;  and  others.  Published  by 
Harper  Brothers,  London  and  New  York,  September 
1901.  I  can  only  make  the  briefest  extracts ;  the 
paper  is  entitled  The  Outlook  for  Christianity. 

"  The  Christian  doctrine  has  been  greatly  simpli- 
fied. The  elaborate  creeds  of  a  former  day  are  dis- 
appearing. The  metaphysical  puzzles,  in  which  so 
many  minds  were  once  entangled,  are  swept  away. 
It  is  now  well  understood,  among  those  who  are 
the  recognised  leaders  of  Christian  thought,  that  the 
essence  of  Christianity  is  personal  loyalty  to  the 
Master  and  obedience  to  His  law  of  love.  Such  a 
conception  prepares  the  way  for  great  unities  and 
co-operations." 

"  The  past  century  has  been  a  period  of  theo- 
logical agitation  and  upheaval  in  Protestant  Chris- 
tendom. The  progress  of  physical  science,  the  use 
of  the  evolutionary  philosophy,  and  the  development 
of  Biblical  criticism  have  kept  the  theologians  busy, 
with  the  work  of  reconstruction." 

"  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  as  a  whole,  is  sharing  liberally  in  the  growing 


PSYCHOLOGY  AS  A  SCIENCE  7 

light  of  this  new  day.  .  .  .  That  the  discipline  of  the 
Church  is  gradually  changing — becoming  more  mild 
and  rational,  less  arbitrary  and  despotic — can  hardly 
be  doubted." 

"  The  old  theology  emphasised  the  sovereignty  of 
God  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  appear  that  what  was 
central  in  Him  was  will — His  determination  to  have 
His  own  way.  '  His  mere  good  pleasure  '  was  the 
decisive  element  in  His  action.  This  theology  was 
the  apotheosis  of  will.  The  hard  fact  was  disguised 
and  softened  in  many  ways,  but  it  was  always  there 
— was  the  nerve  of  the  doctrine.  The  later  con- 
ceptions emphasise  the  righteousness  of  God  more 
than  His  power.  His  justice  is  not  chiefly  His 
determination  to  have  His  own  way ;  it  is  His 
determination  to  do  right,  to  recognise  the  moral 
constitution  which  He  has  given  to  His  children, 
and  to  conform  to  that  in  His  dealings  with  them." 

"  This  is  a  tremendous  change  ;  none  more 
radical  or  revolutionary  has  taken  place  in  any  of  the 
sciences.  To  be  rid  of  theories  which  required  the 
damnation  of  non-elect  infants  and  of  all  the  heathen  ; 
which  imputed  the  guilt  of  our  progenitors  to  their  off- 
spring ;  and  which  proclaimed  an  eternal  kingdom  of 
darkness,  ruled  by  an  evil  potentate,  whose  ubiquity 
was  but  little  short  of  omnipresence,  whose  resources 
pressed  hard  upon  omnipotence,  and  whose  access  to 
human  souls  implied  omniscience — is  a  great  deliver- 
ance. The  entire  aspect  of  religion  has  changed  with- 
in the  memory  of  many  who  will  read  these  words, 
we  are  living  under  a  different  sky  and  breathing  a 
different  atmosphere." 

"  It  may  be  assumed  that  man  is  not  only  a 
political,  but  also  a  religious  animal ;  that  religion  is 
an  everlasting  reality.  Some  kind  of  religion  men 
have  always  had  and  will  always  have ;  things 
unseen  and  eternal  enter  into  their  lives,  and  will 
always  form  an  integral  part  of  their  experience." 

"  It  is  through  the  spirit  that  we  know  Him  ;  and 
He  is  the  Father  of  spirits  ;  His  character  is  revealed 
to  us  in  the  life  and  words  of  Jesus  ;  our  relation  to 
Him  is  shown  us  in  the  filial  trust  of  Jesus,  and  our 


8  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

relation  to  one  another  springs  from  this  relation. 
The  two  truths  of  the  divine  Fatherhood  and  the 
human  Brotherhood  are  the  central  truths  of 
Christian  theology  to-day.  This  has  never  before 
been  true.  Men  have  been  always  calling  God 
Father,  but  in  their  theories  they  have  been  making 
Him  monarch.  He  was  as  much  of  a  Father  as  He 
could  consistently  be  with  His  functions  as  an  ab- 
solute sovereign.  The  Sovereignty  was  the  dominant 
fact ;  the  Fatherhood  was  subordinate.  All  this 
is  changed.  It  is  believed  to-day  that  there  can  be 
no  sovereignty  higher  than  fatherhood,  and  no  law 
stronger  than  love." 

This  is  a  magnificent  presentation  of  the  religious 
sweep  which  has  been  passing  over  the  old  dogmatic 
theology  of  the  past.  The  concluding  words  which  I 
have  quoted,  "  It  is  believed  to-day,"  are  true  ;  it  is 
indeed  so  believed,  is  becoming  universally  so  be- 
lieved. But  is  this  belief  to  be  a  matter  of  faith 
alone,  so  that,  as  it  came  it  may  go,  or  of  scientific 
and  revelational  demonstration  ?  If  the  former  it  is 
but  to  follow  our  higher  ethics  of  to-day,  our  wider 
civilisation,  our  broader  socialistic  integration,  to, 
in  fact,  advance  only  with  man's  experimental  ad- 
vancement. This  will  be  great,  but  it  will  be  not  so 
much  heroic  as  inevitable.  But  is  it  also  demon- 
stratively and  directly  divine  ? — if  so  it  can  be 
proven,  and  so  I  may  say,  if  it  is  the  latter  (that  is, 
scientifically  and  revelationally  demonstrable)  then 
it  will  stand  immutable  as  the  eternal  hills. 

The  purpose  of  these  chapters  is  to  bring  forward, 
in  a  connected  series,  the  changes  which  have  taken 
place  in  the  scientific  and  philosophical  world  re- 
garding those  problems  and  demonstrations,  and 
the  accumulated  evidence,  concerning  what  has 
been  long  known  in  a  vague  and  indefinite  sense  as 
psychology.  Partly  by  reason  of  the  lack  of  means 
for  investigation,  or  the  ineffectiveness  of  the  instru- 
ments used,  never  until  recently  has  psychology 
been  actually  reached,  except  by  worthless  and  ever- 
shifting  hypotheses,  co-ordinated  here  and  there  with 

> 


PSYCHOLOGY  AS  A  SCIENCE  9 

an  isolated  fact,  misleading,  by  its  want  of  connection 
as  to  what  psychology  really  was,  or  what  it  could 
be,  and  of  late  has  been  actually  demonstrated 
to  be. 

The  very  bases  of  demonstrable  psychology  were 
lacking,  so  long  as  science  had  not  created  the  sub- 
sciences  of  embryology,  comparative  anthropology, 
the  deeper  principles  of  the  development  of  living 
forms,  the  psychism  of  microscopic  forms,  and  the 
science  of  comparative  religions,  as  well  as  other  and 
kindred  branches  of  science,  which  are  now  open  and 
available  for  all. 

In  the  absence  of  these  means  of  investigation 
and  demonstration,  physical  science  fought  shy  of 
everything  which  took  on  the  guise  of  superstition, 
so  that  the  field  being  narrow,  and  the  means  of  re- 
search small,  refuge  was  taken  in  an  a  priori  which 
denied  everything  apparently  supernormal  without 
investigation,  and  only  conceded,  even  for  examina- 
tion, those  few  physical  facts  and  phenomena  which 
were  obvious,  at  first  sight  even,  to  all.  As  physical 
science  continued  its  advance,  even  this  physical 
realm  became  too  great  to  be  dealt  with  as  a  whole, 
and  scientific  specialists  arose,  with  ever-narrowing 
specialties,  and,  as  the  whole  visible  field  had  been  far 
too  small  to  even  enable  physical  science  as  a  whole 
to  grasp  even  an  infinitesimal  fraction  of  the  whole,  so 
now  the  specialists,  by  still  more  narrowing  and  split- 
ting up  their  subjects, relegated  much  that  had  already 
been  gained  to  doubt  and  negation,  and  the  scientific 
world  became  peopled  with  pseudo-scientists  who 
taught  "  sectarian  science,"  just  as  in  the  religious 
world  has  been  the  case  in  all  ages,  and  with  all 
religions,  where  narrow  theological  creeds  took  the 
place  of  broader  religious  knowledge,  and  the 
spiritual  element  practically  disappeared,  to  a  great 
extent,  from  both. 

When  a  sect  selected  a  certain  number  of  its  texts 
from  the  Hebrew  scriptures,  the  New  Testament, 
the  Koran,  the  Zend-Avesta,  the  Tao  Teh  King,  the 
Vedas,  the  Buddhistic  or  other  scriptures,  in  elevating 
these  texts  into  dogma  the  remainder  of  the  books 


io  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

were  relatively  ignored,  and  partial  theologies  usurped 
the  place  of  universal  religions. 

And  in  like  manner,  when  physical  science  oc- 
cupied itself  with  certain  narrow  lines  and  texts, 
the  broader  fields  became  but  mere  phantasms,  or 
dim  and  unsearched  areas,  in  which  to  search  was 
useless  and  superstitious  ;  and  hence  simple  denial, 
agnosticism,  infidelity  and  empiricism  took  the  only 
place,  and  each  set  of  teachers,  denying  everything 
taught  by  other  sets  of  teachers,  and  refusing  to  in- 
vestigate for  themselves — indeed  unfitted  to  investi- 
gate by  the  narrowness  of  their  own  specialisms — sub- 
stituted a  broad  and  sweeping  a  priori,  and  denied  all 
further  and  greater  knowledge  in  the  name  of  the 
scintilla  of  already  observed  and  lesser  knowledge,  and 
so  passed  on,  smiling  and  superstitious  themselves, 
in  the  feeling  (for  it  was  but  a  feeling)  that  because 
the  others  did  not  know  the  trifling  particulars  which, 
in  their  minuteness,  they  did  know,  the  others,  in  the 
same  proportion,  knew  nothing  else,  by  reason  of  not 
knowing  that. 

As  Romanes  confesses,  they  had  been  too  much 
immersed  in  merely  physical  research. 

There  is  not  a  plough-boy  who  does  not  know 
that  there  are  whole  realms  of  knowledge  outside 
"  merely  physical  research  "  ;  everybody  knows  it, 
because  there  could  be  no  "  merely  physical  research  " 
at  all  unless  there  was  something  not  physical,  or 
superphysical,  to  determine  and  carry  on,  or  even  to 
initiate,  the  researching. 

As  Huxley  says,  '  The  more  completely  the 
materialistic  position  is  admitted,  the  easier  it  is  to 
show  that  the  idealistic  position  is  unassailable,  if  the 
idealist  confines  himself  within  the  limits  of  positive 
knowledge." 

Again,  speaking  of  Berkeley,  this  writer  (on  the 
popular  misapprehension  of  whom  so  much  of  modern 
materialism  relies)  says  :  "  The  key  to  all  philosophy 
lies  in  the  clear  comprehension  of  Berkeley's  pro- 
blem— which  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  one  of  the 
shapes  of  the  greatest  of  all  questions,  '  What  are  the 
limits  of  our  faculties  ?  '  And  it  is  worth  any  amounl 


PSYCHOLOGY  AS  A  SCIENCE  n 

of  trouble  to  comprehend  the  exact  nature  of  the 
argument  by  which  Berkeley  arrived  at  his  results, 
and  to  know  by  one's  own  knowledge  the  great  truth 
which  he  discovered — that  the  honest  and  rigorous 
following  up  of  the  argument  which  leads  us  to 
materialism  inevitably  carries  us  beyond  it." 

And  he  adds,  in  conclusion,  "  And  therefore,  if  I 
were  obliged  to  choose  between  absolute  materialism 
and  absolute  idealism,  I  should  feel  compelled  to  accept 
the  latter  alternative." 

And  Locke,  another  of  the  authorities  upon  which 
materialism  was  mistakenly  content  to  rest,  is  equally 
emphatic.  Says  Locke,  "  Bodies,  by  our  senses,  do 
not  afford  us  so  clear  and  distinct  an  idea  of  active 
power,  as  we  have  from  reflection  on  the  operations 
of  our  minds.  Of  thinking,  body  affords  us  no  idea 
at  all,  it  is  only  from  reflection  that  we  have  that. 
Neither  have  we  from  body  any  idea  of  the  beginning 
of  motion  "  ;  and  adds,  "  I  judge  it  not  amiss  to 
direct  our  minds  to  the  consideration  of  God  and 
spirits,  for  the  clearest  idea  of  active  powers."  And 
of  the  faculties  of  the  mind,  as  applied  to  what  he  calls 
reason  and  revelation,  he  says,  "  God  having  fitted 
men  with  faculties  and  means  to  discover,  receive, 
and  retain  truths,  according  as  they  are  em- 
ployed." 

The  basis  of  psychology  is  the  transcendental,  the 
superphysical,  and  this  is  the  ultimate,  the  dominant, 
the  controlling,  and  the  ever  and  everywhere  present, 
and  yet  materialism,  or  empiricism,  which  modern 
psychology  has  for  ever  overthrown,  not  only  has 
taken  no  account  of  this,  but  has  either  damned  it 
with  an  a  priori  assumption  without  investigation, 
classing  it  as  a  superstition  not  to  be  even  considered, 
or  else  has  denied  not  only  its  importance  but  even  its 
existence. 

As  a  type  of  this  attitude,  I  quote  the  following 
from  Dr  W.  A.  Hammond's  "  Sleep  and  Its  De- 
rangements," published  in  1869. 

'  Writers  who  contend  for  the  doctrine  of  constant 
mental  activity  regard  the  brain  as  the  organ  or  tool 
of  the  mind,  a  structure  which  the  mind  makes  use 


12  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

of  in  order  to  manifest  itself.  Such  a  theory  is  certain 
to  lead  them  into  difficulties,  and  is  contrary  to  all  the 
teaching  of  physiology.  The  full  discussion  of  this 
question  would  be  out  of  place  here  ;  I  will  therefore 
only  state  that  this  work  is  written  from  the  stand- 
point of  regarding  the  mind  as  nothing  more  than  the 
result  of  cerebral  action.  Just  as  a  good  liver 
secretes  good  bile,  a  good  candle  gives  good  light,  and 
good  coal  a  good  fire,  so  does  a  good  brain  give  a  good 
mind.  When  the  brain  is  quiescent  there  is  no  mind." 

This  is  the  view  which  Haeckel  takes  in  his 
"  Riddle  of  the  Universe."  "  This  hypothetical 
spirit  world,"  he  says,  "  which  is  supposed  to  be 
entirely  independent  of  the  material  universe,  is 
purely  a  product  of  poetic  imagination ;  the  same  may 
be  said  of  the  parallel  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul." 

"  We  must  therefore,"  he  says,  "  distinguish  in 
the  substance  of  the  soul  the  characteristic  psychic 
energy,  which  is  all  we  perceive  (sensation,  presenta- 
tion, volition,  etc.),  and  the  psychic  matter,  which  is 
the  inseparable  basis  of  its  activity — that  is,  the 
living  protoplasm.  Thus,  in  the  higher  animals  the 
'  matter  '  of  the  soul  is  a  part  of  the  nervous  system  ; 
in  the  lower  nerveless  animals  and  plants  it  is  a  part 
of  their  multicellular  protoplasmic  body  ;  and  in  the 
unicellular  protists  it  is  a  part  of  their  protoplasmic 
cell  body.  In  this  manner  we  are  brought  once  more 
to  the  psychic  organs,  and  to  an  appreciation  of  the 
fact  that  these  material  organs  are  indispensable  for 
the  action  of  the  soul ;  but  the  soul  itself  is  actual — 
it  is  the  sum  total  of  their  physiological  functions." 

This,  of  course,  was  rushing  into  the  realms  of 
agnosticism  where  even  the  angels,  like  Herbert 
Spencer,  feared  to  tread ;  but  Spencer  just  before 
he  died  threw  a  flashlight  ray  through  these  dark 
areas,  conceded  that  the  consciousness  was  ele- 
mentally derived  or  sheared  off  from  "  that  Infinite 
and  Eternal  Energy  which  transcends  both  our 
knowledge  and  our  imagination,"  and  could  only  infer 
that  at  death  its  elements  again  lapse  into  the  same 
Infinite  and  Eternal  Energy. 


PSYCHOLOGY  AS  A  SCIENCE  13 

The  soul,  the  consciousness,  we  may  be  sure,  from 
the  testimony  of  all  really  capable  psychologists 
does  not  depend  upon  the  physical  structure,  is  not 
produced  by  the  physical  organism,  and  is  not  limited 
in  duration  thereby,  but  is,  as  Herbert  Spencer  says, 
"  a  specialised  individuality." 

And  this  is  where  the  trend  of  psychology  is  lead- 
ing us  to,  in  all  directions  to-day,  and  it  has  so  far 
advanced  that  to  make  a  retrogression  now,  with  all 
the  light  blazing  around  and  pouring  down  from  over- 
head, is  simply  unthinkable.  The  dark  ages  of  such 
speculations  and  assumptions  have  passed  for  ever  ; 
we  are  so  far  advanced  now,  by  means  of  investiga- 
tions which  can  have  but  one  trend,  from  demonstra- 
tions which  can  have  but  one  conclusion,  and  from  a 
universal  consensus  which  has  taken  psychology  for 
ever  away  from  the  dogmas  of  a  superstitious  a 
priori,  that  it  has  been  securely  planted  in  the  light 
of  the  transcendental,  and  the  old  questions  of 
religion  and  spiritualism,  of  mind  and  morals,  of  life 
and  its  end  and  purpose,  have  been  not  only  rescued, 
but  glorified. 

In  a  loose  sort  of  way  psychology  is  commonly 
defined  as  the  science  of  the  soul.  The  definition 
is  bad,  because  the  soul  itself  is  only  one,  and  a  very 
subordinate  one,  of  the  meanings  of  the  Greek  word 
psyche,  and  also  because  we  cannot  have  a  science  of  a 
specific  thing  which  the  science  itself  is  set  to  deter- 
mine. Psychology  is  the  science  of  the  psyche,  the 
well-known  Greek  word,  which  has  all  the  following 
significations : — breath,  in  its  spiritual  sense,  the 
anima  of  the  Latins  ;  life,  spirit,  the  immortal  part 
of  man,  as  opposed  to  his  body  or  perishable  part ;  a 
departed  soul,  spirit  or  ghost ;  the  soul  or  spirit  of 
man  ;  the  anima  mundi,  which  was  supposed  in 
ancient  philosophy  to  extend  through  all  lands, 
and  through  the  regions  of  the  sea,  and  the  deeps 
of  heaven.  In  Webster  the  term  psychological  is 
applied  to  whatever  pertains  to  man's  spiritual 
nature. 

This  constant  spiritualistic  meaning  obviously 
differentiates  psychology  from  materialism,  em- 


14  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

piricism,  or  any  hypothesis  or  theory  of  a  self- 
operative  or  merely  physical  nature,  and  it  is  in  this 
broad  sense  that  the  term  is  now  used  in  science,  and 
the  sense  in  which  I  shall  use  the  term  in  these 
chapters.  Of  all  these  Greek  definitions,  the  most 
obviously  applicable  are  those  manifestations  which 
appear  at  first  sight  to  fall  into,  or  be,  in  some  super- 
normal manner,  connected  with  what  loosely  goes 
by  the  name  of  "  psychic,"  or  "  spiritualistic." 


CHAPTER    II 

ARGUMENT     FOR     SPIRITUALISM 

IT  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  great  body  of 
phenomena  which  go  under  the  name  of  psychic  are 
due  to  what  is  commonly  known  as  spiritualism — 
that  is  to  say,  the  direct  activity  and  presence  of 
spirits  of  individuals  once  living  but  now  dead.  In- 
deed spiritualists  themselves  do  not  make  any  such 
assertion,  for  there  are  whole  classes  of  phenomena 
of  this  kind  which  clearly  appertain  to  the  operations 
of  a  universally  diffused  consciousness,  pervading 
space,  and  extended  through  unlimited  time,  and 
which  constitutes  unquestionably  the  source  of  life 
and  mind.  Among  these  classes  of  phenomena  are 
those  of  simple  clairvoyance,  transcendental  conscious- 
ness, crystal  vision,  telepathy,  somnambulism,  alter- 
nating personalities,  and  the  like.  Midway  between 
these  and  individual  spiritualism  lie  the  phenomena 
of  phantasms  of  the  living,  apparitions,  or  perceptions 
of  those  dying  at  a  distance,  to  friends  or  others,  the 
facts  of  so-called  possession,  witchcraft,  vampirism, 
much  of  the  phenomena  of  mediumship,  reading  of 
sealed  letters,  a  portion  of  the  phenomena  of  auto- 
matic writing,  writing  or  producing  pictures  in  the 
dark,  mental  projections,  veridical  dreams,  some 
part  of  prophecy,  discovery  of  missing  objects,  such 
as  wills,  deeds,  money,  dead  bodies,  etc.,  etc. 

Outside  of  these  classes  of  phenomena,  we  have  a 
great  mass  of  evidence  going  directly  to  establish  the 
facts  of  individual  spiritualism  in  certain  cases. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  spiritualists  themselves 
are  the  least  dogmatic  of  all  people  with  reference  to 
these  various  phenomena.  That  they  hold  to  the 
validity  of  the  facts  familiarly  known  to  them  with 

15 


16  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

the  same  tenacity  with  which  one  holds  to  the  per- 
sonality of  his  wife  and  children  around  him,  or  to  the 
relative  hardness  of  a  stone  which  has  bruised  him, 
or  of  a  shower  which  has  wetted  him,  is  not  surprising ; 
but  even  the  most  capable  mediums  or  go-betweens 
are  always  ready  to  concede  that  they  do  not  under- 
stand the  phenomena  which  manifest  themselves 
through  their  personality,  and  they  are,  in  fact,  the 
most  humble  and  anxious  of  all  to  learn  from  other 
investigators  concerning  these  very  things.  Should, 
finally,  the  solution  of  these  psychic  problems  be 
found  to  lie,  not  with  the  individual  presence  of  the 
spirits  of  the  dead,  but  with  that  far  greater  and 
higher  spirituality  "  in  which  we  live  and  move  and 
have  our  being,"  they  will  rest  there  quite  content, 
feeling  that  their  basis  of  faith  has  been  broadened, 
while  every  essential  truth  has  been  preserved. 

The  scientifically  accepted  principle  of  thresholds 
of  consciousness  itself  presupposes  a  great  universal 
ocean  of  that  which  is  allied  to  and  develops  under 
favourable  circumstances  into  consciousness  ;  and 
psychology  is  making  its  greatest  advances  along  these 
lines,  but  as  yet  they  do  not  explain,  or  even  tend  to 
explain,  spiritualism  as  a  whole,  in  the  absence  of 
individual  spirits  of  those  once  living,  but  they  lead 
up  to,  and  often  connect,  these  phenomena  with  other 
known  psychical  phenomena  in  a  most  surprising 
manner. 

Had  science  turned  its  attention  to  these  pheno- 
mena with  even  a  fraction  of  the  energy  and  study 
which  such  transcendental  facts  demanded,  we  would 
have  advanced  far  beyond  our  present  limits  of 
knowledge  ;  but,  instead,  it  has  chosen  to  simply 
ignore  the  facts  as  inconvenient,  and  to  build  an 
elaborate  and  many-storeyed  edifice  resting  upon  no 
foundation,  not  even  one  of  sand,  and  now  it  must 
laboriously  begin — as  it  has  already  begun — to  take 
down  this  splendid  edifice,  stone  by  stone  and  column 
by  column,  and  rebuild  it  anew  upon  the  immutable 
and  eternal  foundations  of  God  and  nature.  What  a 
royal  palace  of  truth  we  shall  then  see  erected,  and 
help  to  erect,  for  in  that  great  work  of  selection  of 


ARGUMENT  FOR   SPIRITUALISM        17 

material  as  well  as  of  construction  the  humblest 
student  and  observer  can  become  a  collaborator  with 
the  most  trained  and  skilful  builders.  And  the  in- 
visible powers  of  nature  will  direct  the  work  to  its  final 
culmination.  The  invisible  powers  of  nature  !  Is 
not  thought  an  invisible  power  which  sets  the  whole 
mechanism  of  life  and  civilisation  into  action  ?  Is 
not  the  mind  an  invisible  power,  which  controls 
matter  as  a  driver  controls  a  team  of  mules  ?  Is  not 
life  an  invisible  power,  which  turns  back  the  processes 
of  inorganic  chemistry,  and  builds  up  fabrics  which 
only  endure  while  life  lasts,  being  built  in  spite  of 
decay  and  breakdown,  and  then,  as  soon  as  life 
ceases — shall  we  say  departs  ? — leaves  the  whole  dead 
structure  to  fall  back  into  simple  chemical  products, 
away  from  the  life-built  organisation,  and  with 
putridity  and  dissolution,  just  as  occurs  with  the  dead 
material  of  the  chemical  laboratory.  Non- vital 
decomposition  after  death  presupposes  vital  com- 
position before  death.  And  is  not  that  great  "  Spirit 
of  the  Universe,"  as  Romanes,  the  pupil,  co-worker, 
and  follower  of  Darwin,  called  it,  that  which  is  nearest 
akin  to  our  own  psychism — as  he  described  it — that 
organising  power  independent  of  matter  and  superior 
to  organic  nature  and  its  laws — as  Lamarck  described 
it — also  an  invisible  power  ? 

What,  indeed,  does  the  term  "  nature  "  signify  ? 
It  means  that  which  is  born.  What  is  there  that 
ever  was  born  without  a  parent  ?  The  problem  of 
nature  is  the  problem  of  mind,  and  the  problem  of 
mind  is  the  problem  of  life.  Mind  is  the  potter,  the 
body  is  the  clay. 

We  are,  it  appears,  on  the  very  verge  of  the  dis- 
covery of  a  greater  integration,  as  Professor  Richet, 
the  learned  President  of  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research,  believes,  which  shah1  include  all  the 
psychical  classes  of  phenomena  which  I  have  men- 
tioned, but  which  shall  yet  not  itself  be  any  single 
one  of  them.  It  wih1  include  spiritualism,  it  will 
include  clairvoyance,  and  telepathy,  and  prevision, 
but  yet  not  be  any  one  of  these  things.  It  will  har- 
monise, and  surround,  and  interpret  all  these  mysteries 


i8  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

and  many  more  ;  and  this  is  the  trend  of  psychology 
to-day,  and  is  the  apology  for  these  chapters. 

To  quote  the  burning  words  of  Sir  William 
Crookes,  in  his  address  as  President  of  the  British 
Association,  only  nine  years  ago,  and  in  the  maturity 
of  his  wondrous  powers  as  one  of  the  world's  great 
scientific  leaders  :  "I  should  prefer  to  say  that  in 
life  I  see  the  promise  and  potency  of  all  forms  of 
matter." 

It  is  certain  that  no  possible  integration  of  the 
physical  or  material,  in  any  sense  in  which  these 
terms  have  ever  been  used  or  recognised  by  science, 
could  cover  more  than  an  infinitesimal  instant  in  the 
illimitable  course  of  time,  and  not  even  so  much  of 
matter  or  of  space,  and  nothing  at  all  of  force.  It  is 
an  axiom  of  dynamics  that  nothing  merely  physical 
can  start  itself,  and  of  philosophy  that  nothing  with- 
out mind  can  produce  mind.  In  fact,  evolution  itself 
demands  this  as  its  very  first  premise.  As  Tyndall 
expressed  it,  "  Between  mind  and  matter  there  exists 
an  intellectually  impassable  chasm."  The  vast  body 
of  psychical  facts  which  so-called  spiritualists  hold  can 
only  be  explained  on  a  psychical  basis.  The  formal 
argument  on  behalf  of  modern  spiritualism  may  be 
stated  as  follows  : — 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  ecclesiastical  revolt  of  Martin 
Luther,  and  the  establishment  of  the  Protestant  faith, 
less  than  four  hundred  years  ago,  and  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  years  after  the  birth  of  Christianity, 
the  whole  Christian  church,  without  an  exception, 
in  all  its  different  branches,  had  not  only  held,  but 
strenuously  preached  and  taught,  substantially  the 
whole  body  of  what  to-day  constitutes  modern 
spiritualism.  On  this  truth  Christianity  itself  was 
obviously  founded,  and  to  it  owed  its  entire  validity 
and  strength. 

During  all  these  fifteen  hundred  years,  while  the 
church  was  growing  from  infancy  to  nearly  universal 
power  and  domination,  its  whole  career  was  an  un- 
broken record  of  the  continuous  phenomena  of 
spiritual  manifestations,  including  clairvoyance,  clair- 
audience,  ecstasy,  trance  visions,  apparitions,  haunt- 


ARGUMENT  FOR  SPIRITUALISM        19 

ings,  exorcisms,  psychical  manifestations,  voices, 
speech  in  unknown  languages,  descent  of  spiritual 
afflatus,  visible  intercommunion  between  the  living 
and  the  dead,  slate-writings,  spirit  pictures,  auto- 
matic and  direct  writings,  extra-human  spirit  control 
of  living  bodies,  obsession,  possession,  etherealisation, 
materialisation  and  dematerialisation,  alternating 
consciousness,  spiritual  healing  of  diseases  and  in- 
firmities, spirit  guardianship  of  those  still  living  by 
friends  gone  beyond,  intercession  and  mutual  aid, 
gifts  of  prophecy  and  crystal  vision,  messages  to  and 
fro  between  earth  life  and  spirit  life,  levitation,  hand- 
ling of  fire  without  injury,  materialisation  of  single 
parts  of  spiritual  bodies,  playing  on  musical  instru- 
ments, and  singing,  by  materialised  spirits,  direct 
spirit  control  for  great  and  good  purposes,  or,  in 
other  cases,  for  bad  purposes,  by  spirits  of  different 
grades  or  spheres,  spirit  lights,  spirit  revelations, 
and  every  sort  of  manifestation  with  which  we  have 
now  become  familiar  through  modern  mediums  in  the 
present  age.  The  only  difference  is  that  our  modern 
phenomena  are  not  claimed  to  be  ecclesiastical  in 
their  nature,  or  under  the  control,  specifically,  of  any 
church  or  creed,  whereas  the  others  were.  But  even 
then,  during  all  those  centuries,  the  church  stood 
ready  to  adopt  all  the  manifestations  of  the  humblest 
human  agencies,  when  their  apparent  genuineness  had 
been  established,  and  nearly  all  its  most  important  so- 
called  miracles  (of  Joan  of  Arc,  for  example)  were 
the  offspring  of  human  mediums  not  at  the  time 
numbered  among  her  great  ones,  her  saints  or  her 
high  officials.  The  country  clergyman,  the  ignorant 
peasant,  the  weak  girl,  the  clairvoyant  woman,  the 
student,  the  devout,  but  nearly  aways  the  obscure 
and  unconscious  medium,  first  brought  forth  these 
great  manifestations  of  the  continuous  life  beyond 
and  the  church  then  took  hold,  investigated,  and, 
these  humble  instruments,  in  consequence,  were  often 
raised  to  power  and  saintship  ;  or  the  lower  spirits 
which  haunted  places  where  crime  had  been  committed 
or  wrong  endured,  which  entered  into  good  men  and 
women,  and  changed  them,  temporarily  or  per- 


20  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

manently,  into  new  creatures,  these  the  church  con- 
trolled and  expelled  by  the  great  gift  which  its  mighty 
Founder  directly  placed  in  its  hands,  and  which  it 
exercised  in  His  Name. 

In  this  connection,  Rev.  Dr  C.  M.  Davies,  a  well- 
known  clergyman  of  the  English  church,  says,  "  I 
cannot  see  why  it  should  be  incongruous  for  the  clergy 
to  examine  doctrines  which  profess  to  amplify  rather 
than  supplant  those  of  revelation,  any  more  than  I 
can  see  why  scientists  stand  aloof  from  what  pro- 
fesses to  be  a  purely  positive  philosophy,  based  upon 
the  inductive  method." 


CHAPTER   III 

SPIRITUALISM  IN  THE   CHURCH 

BUT  during  the  centuries  following  the  Christian  era, 
the  church,  by  a  gradual  movement  of  accretion,  such 
as  are  constantly  manifested  among  all  human 
organisations,  came  to  claim,  for  its  own  ends, 
dominance  over  all  spiritualistic  manifestations,  and 
to  subject  them  either  to  its  approval  or  condemna- 
tion as  final,  and  thus  claimed  to  speak  as  the  sole 
oracle  of,  and  wielded  immediate  power  over,  all  these 
spiritual  phenomena  and  manifestations,  and  thereby 
thus  holding  the  keys,  and  dealing  with  the  unseen 
and  eternal  as  equal  co-partners,  enormously  en- 
hanced the  power  and  authority  of  the  church. 

At  the  time  of  the  Reformation  nearly  or  quite  all 
the  great  leaders,  Luther,  Zwingli,  Melancthon  and 
their  co-workers,  as  firmly  believed  in  the  facts  of 
spiritualism  as  the  old  church  itself  did,  but  in  cutting 
themselves  off  from  that  historic  organisation,  and  its 
structurally  inworked  traditions,  they  were  compelled 
to  appeal  to  the  arbitrament  of  reason,  with  the 
written  Bible  as  the  sole  but  perfect  charter  and 
constitution,  as  guide  and  record  ;  and  to  thus  throw 
off  the  dominance  of  the  old  church  by  denying 
its  then  universally  conceded,  but  unwarrantably 
dogmatic,  alliance  with  spiritualism ;  for  it  was 
necessary  to  first  do  this  in  order  to  secure  any  locus 
standi  for  the  new  organisation  at  all.  This  left 
them  the  historic  record,  divorced  from  all  that  which 
preceded,  or  was  coincident  with  or  subsequent  to  it, 
in  the  teaching  or  practice  of  the  church. 

But  this  historic  record  to  which  they  appealed 
was  but  the  residuum,  consisting  of  twenty-seven 
different  writings,  selected  out  of  a  much  larger 
ai 


22  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

number  to  constitute  the  New  Testament,  and  this 
selection  and  endorsement,  which  alone  gave  them 
canonical  value,  was  not  only  the  work  of  the  same 
spiritualistic  church,  so  much  of  whose  other  teaching 
they  repudiated,  but  the  canon  itself  was  made 
centuries  after  the  time  of  Christ,  and  by  various 
councils  and  like  authorities  of  the  same  ecclesiastical 
organisation,  under  direct  spiritual  guidance. 

In  addition  to  the  four  gospels  thus  approved, 
there  were  rejected  more  than  fifty  other  gospels, 
which  had  been  in  common  use  among  Christians, 
and  in  addition  to  the  seventeen  epistles  then  ac- 
cepted, more  than  one  hundred,  previously  accepted 
and  used,  were  rejected.  There  are  sixty-eight  New 
Testament  books  mentioned  by  Christian  fathers  of 
the  first  four  centuries  which  are  not  now  known  to  be 
in  existence. 

And  the  great  councils  which  finally  established 
the  present  canon  only  did  this  after  centuries  during 
which  the  Christian  books  were  left  to  be  selected  or 
interpreted  as  each  one  might,  by  spiritual  gifts,  be 
able  to  do  for  himself — the  books  themselves  (in 
manuscript,  of  course)  being  subject  to  all  the 
vicissitudes  to  which  other  literary  remains  were 
subjected. 

As  the  Christian  writer,  Mr  Westcott,  says  (and 
what  the  facts  themselves  attest)  :  "It  does  not 
appear  that  any  special  care  was  taken  in  the  first  age 
to  preserve  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  from  the 
various  injuries  of  time,  or  to  insure  perfect  accuracy 
of  transcription.  They  were  given  as  a  heritage  to 
man,  and  it  was  some  time  before  men  felt  the  full 
value  of  the  gift.  The  original  copies  seem  to  have 
soon  disappeared."  If,  during  this  period,  God's 
miraculous  spiritual  control  did  not  preserve  the 
Bible,  then  what  did  ? 

In  the  "  Companion  to  the  Revised  Version  of  the 
New  Testament,"  Dr  Alexander  Roberts,  a  member 
of  the  Revision  Committee,  shows  that  the  Greek 
Testament  owes  its  complete  form  to  the  labours  of; 
Cardinal  Ximenes,  and  it  was  not  completed  until  the 
year  1514.  Nearly  at  the  same  time  Erasmus  brought 


SPIRITUALISM  IN  THE   CHURCH        23 

out  his  edition,  and  his  fourth  edition,  the  result  of 
comparison  with  the  work  of  Cardinal  Ximenes, 
became  the  basis  of  all  subsequent  texts. 

Of  the  edition  of  Erasmus,  that  distinguished 
author  said  :  "It  was  rather  tumbled  headlong  into 
the  world  than  edited."  In  the  gospels  he  principally 
used  a  cursive  manuscript  of  the  fifteenth  or  sixteenth 
century,  "  admitted  by  all  to  be  of  a  very  inferior 
character."  In  the  Acts  and  epistles  he  chiefly  folio  wed 
a  cursive  manuscript  of  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth 
century,  with  occasional  references  to  another  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  For  the  Apocalypse  he  had  only 
one  mutilated  manuscript;  says  Dr  Roberts,  "He 
had  thus  no  documentary  materials  for  publishing 
a  complete  edition  of  the  Greek  Testament." 

This  will  show  the  fragmentary  character  of  the 
manuscripts,  and  that  it  was  only  the  old  church, 
under  God's  continuous  spiritualistic  manifestations, 
which  saved  them,  or  gave  them  any  authenticity  at 
all,  and  this  was  not  done  for  centuries  after  the  time  of 
Christ.  Dr  Nathaniel  Lardner,  the  distinguished  writer 
on  "  Christian  Evidences,"  says  that  the  canon  was 
not  settled  until  about  the  year  556,  and  that,  prior  to 
that  time,  "  Christian  people  were  at  liberty  to  judge 
for  themselves  concerning  the  genuineness  of  writings 
proposed  to  them  as  apostolic,  and  to  act  according 
to  evidence." 

And  the  deficiencies  and  uncertainties  in  the 
original  have  been  supplemented  and  increased  by 
equally  important  errors  in  the  translation,  many 
of  which  go  to  the  very  foundation  principles,  and 
on  a  considerable  number  of  which  diverse  creeds 
and  denominations  have  been  established.  Canon 
Farrar,  in  his  recent  book,  "  Texts  Explained,"  cites 
many  such  passages,  to  which  he  attaches  such 
comments  as  these  :  "  Here  the  wrong  rendering 
adopted  in  our  familiar  version  involves  a  positive 
theological  error  "  ;  "  No  sense  can  be  made  of  this 
rendering  "  ;  "  The  true  reading  and  rendering  are, 
'  They  shall  become  one  flock,  one  shepherd '  ;  the 
importance  of  this  correction  can  hardly  be  over- 
estimated "  ;  "  This  unfortunate  misrendering, 


24  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

tending  to  strengthen  Calvinistic  errors,  should  be 
corrected  "  ;  "  Here  the  mistranslation  obliterates 
the  meaning  of  the  whole  argument  "  ;  "  Nay,  it 
was  the  reverse  of  the  fact  "  ;  "  That  phrase  "  (for 
Christ's  sake)  "  does  not  once  occur  in  Scripture  in  this 
connotation  "  :  "  The  meaning  in  this  memorable 
passage  is  absolutely  reversed  by  the  Authorised 
Version  "  ;  "In  the  following  clause  the  '  made 
Himself  of  no  reputation  '  of  the  Authorised  Version 
loses  the  transcendent  force  of  the  '  emptied  Himself  ' 
of  the  original,  though  on  the  verb  in  the  original  is 
based  the  important  theological  doctrine  of  Christ's 
Kenosis  "  ;  "In  the  Authorised  Version  the  meaning 
is  weakened,  obscured,  and  almost  lost  "  ;  "  St  Paul 
did  not  here  tell  the  Thessalonians  that  the  day  of 
Christ  was  not  at  hand.  On  the  contrary  "  ;  "  Evejx 

phrase  that  the  Ipye  of  money  is 


*  the  root  of  all  evil  '  is  not  a  correct  translation  .which 
is  that  the  love  of  money  is  '  a  root  of  all  kinds  of 
evil  *  "  ;  "  Neither  '  heresy  '  nor  '  heretic  '  occur  in 
the  New  Testament.  The  words  so  rendered  mean 
'  faction  '  and  '  factious  '  '  ;  "  This  might  sound  like 
an  imputed  contradiction  of  St  Paul  ;  but,  in  the  true 
rendering,  it  is  nothing  of  the  kind  "  ;  and  so  on  in 
hundreds  of  instances. 

In  this  conceded  deficiency  of  the  original  record 
and  the  errors  of  translation,  the  book  itself  of 
necessity  required  some  authority  higher  than  itself 
to  even  determine  its  facts  and  interpret  its  meaning. 
Not  only  was  there  to  be  a  handwriting,  but  a  con- 
tinually inspired  Daniel,  and  this  was  to  be  the  living 
body  of  Christ,  acting  through  the  inspiration  of  men. 

The  old  church  thus  became  the  guarantor  of  the 
record,  and  by  the  same  spiritual  agencies  which  it 
manifested  in  its  recognition  and  control  of  the 
psychical  manifestations  during  those  centuries.  It 
winnowed  out  and  determined  the  records  of  the 
church,  and  those  books  which  it  endorsed  are 
canonical,  and  those  which  it  rejected  are  now 
esteemed  as  of  no  account,  even  by  its  opponents. 

The  Protestants,  in  accepting  as  infallible  the 
dictum  of  the  Catholic  church,  many  centuries  after 


SPIRITUALISM  IN  THE  CHURCH        25 

the  apostolic  age,  thereby  conceded  the  persistence 
of  spiritualistic  manifestations  in  a  direct  line  from 
the  earlier  church,  which  their  Protestant  successors 
afterwards  denied,  while  these  latter,  still,  neverthe- 
less, held  fast  to  the  canon  itself ;  and  hence  they 
conceded  that  spiritualistic  manifestations  did  not 
cease  with  the  apostolic  age,  but  continued  long  after- 
wards, for  the  miracle  of  saving  a  Bible  at  that  late 
date  was  precisely  the  same  as  of  saving  one  now. 
Christ  Himself  foretold,  while  on  earth,  that  His 
followers  and  their  successors  should  manifest  the 
same  spiritualistic  powers  and  perform  the  same 
miracles  as  Himself,  and  not  only  this,  but  that  others, 
not  of  His  church  or  of  His  faith,  nor  of  any  church  or 
religion,  would  continue  to  do  the  same  in  the  future, 
as  they  were  then  doing  during  His  lifetime,  and  had 
been  during  all  the  immemorial  ages  of  the  past. 

In  Exodus  we  read  :  '  The  magicians  of  Egypt 
did  so  with  their  enchantments " ;  in  Leviticus, 
"  Regard  not  them  that  have  familiar  spirits  "  ;  in  the 
Acts,  "  A  certain  maid  having  a  spirit  of  divination, 
a  python,  a  spirit,  met  us,  which  brought  her  masters 
much  gain  by  soothsaying."  The  context  shows  that 
it  was  a  genuine  gift  in  the  opinion  of  the  sacred 
writer. 

The  danger  to  any  creed,  based  on  a  written 
record  of  spiritualistic  phenomena,  arising  from  an 
unecclesiastical  continuance  of  the  same  sort  of 
phenomena  during  subsequent  ages,  is  a  real  danger, 
for  it  not  only  multiplies  interpretations,  but  it 
invites  conflict,  and  indefinitely  extends  the  original 
authorities  themselves.  This  danger  the  old  church 
(and  the  same  is  true  of  all  compact  religious  organisa- 
tions) sought  to  overcome  by  taking  command  and 
control  of  the  whole  field  of  spiritual  phenomena  ; 
but  Protestantism,  appealing  alone  to  the  reason, 
necessarily  gave  to  all  its  followers  the  same  right  of 
appeal.  Hence,  lest  it  should  become  an  inextricable 
entanglement  of  incongruous  revelations,  it  simply 
cut  the  Gordian  knot  by  denying  that  the  machinery 
any  longer  acted,  or  that  the  phenomena  any  longer 
appeared.  This  was  a  gigantic  undertaking,  and 


26  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

required  the  sure  support  of  an  unyielding,  gross 
materialism  to  make  it  effective.  These  utterly 
incompatible  elements  thus  became  mutual  allies  and 
supporters  of  each  other,  and  have  so  continued  down 
to  the  present  day.  It  is  true  that  many  among  the 
non-Catholic  adherents  have  always  recognised  the 
facts  as  they  really  exist,  and  Christians  who  are  firm 
and  advanced  spiritualists  are  now  numbered  by 
millions — but  this  is  contrary  to  the  unwritten  law 
and  teachings  of  nearly  all  the  Protestant  branches  of 
the  church — so  that  we  have  had  the  strange  spectacle 
presented  that  the  dogma  and  teachings  of  these 
sectarian  Christian  denominations  and  those  of 
materialistic  atheists  are  precisely  the  same,  while 
those  who  believe  in  the  actual  teachings  of  both 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  the  promises  of 
their  continuance  contained  therein,  in  repudiating 
atheism  must  also  repudiate  the  dogmatic  teachings  of 
their  own  theological  leaders.  I  say  "  theological," 
not  "  religious  "  by  any  means. 

It  is  said  that  after  the  resurrection,  when  Christ 
spoke  to  His  followers  in  His  materialised  form,  and 
just  before  His  ascension,  He  commissioned  those  who 
were  to  carry  on  His  work,  those  who  believed,  and 
those  who  taught  in  His  name  :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  .  .  . 
And  these  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe  :  In 
my  name  they  shall  cast  out  devils  ;  they  shall  speak 
with  new  tongues  ;  they  shall  take  up  serpents  ;  and 
if  they  drink  any  deadly  thing  it  shall  not  hurt  them  ; 
they  shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick,  and  they  shall 


recover." 


To  show  the  attitude  of  the  Protestant  church,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  cite  the  following  footnote  to  the 
above  commission  of  Christ  from  the  Annotated  New 
Testament,  published  by  the  Religious  Tract  Society 
of  London,  Mark  xvi.  15-18  : 

"  During  the  first  age  of  the  church,  these  extra- 
ordinary gifts  were  not  only  exercised  by  the  apostles 
themselves,  but  were  also  conveyed  by  them  to  others. 
At  what  period  they  ceased  cannot  be  precisely 
ascertained,  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  they 


SPIRITUALISM  IN  THE  CHURCH        27 

were  withdrawn,  not  suddenly,  but  by  degrees.  They 
were  important  as  aids  to  the  introduction  of  a  new 
revelation  from  God,  but  there  was  clearly  no 
necessity  for  their  permanent  continuance.  As  soon 
as  they  became  matters  of  authentic  history,  the 
record  of  them  took  their  place  among  the  evidences 
of  the  truth  of  Christianity." 

That  the  Protestant  view  is  untenable  is  proven  by 
the  commission  of  Christ  Himself,  for  until  His  followers 
had  gone  into  all  the  world  and  preached  the  Gospel 
to  every  living  creature  (and  that  surely  has  not  yet 
been  done  down  to  this  day),  the  conditions  of  the 
charge  remained  valid  ;  and  as  to  the  lack  of  necessity 
for  their  permanent  continuance,  on  the  ground  that 
it  was  sufficient  to  have  their  record  incorporated 
among  the  historic  evidences  of  Christianity,  a  glance 
at  the  progress  of  Christianising  the  world,  which  has 
been  going  on  for  nearly  two  thousand  years,  and  a 
comparison  of  its  advances  during  the  "  ages  of  faith  " 
— that  is  to  say,  of  spiritualism — as  contrasted  with 
those  during  the  present  age  of  so-called  "  reason," 
will  clearly  indicate  that  something  considerable  has 
been  lost  out  of  the  effective  energy  of  the  propaganda, 
and  that  something  is  the  vitality  of  the  whole 
crusade. 

If  Christ  sent  out  His  armies  and  commissioned  the 
leaders  for  the  whole  war,  a  woeful  breakdown  has 
occurred  among  the  latter,  for  the  war  is  far  from 
over  and  the  cause  is  scarcely  advancing. 


CHAPTER   IV 

RESULTS  OF   DESPIRITUALISING  THE   CHURCH 

IN  December  1896  the  Rev.  Dwight  L.  Moody,  the 
celebrated  evangelist,  preached  a  sermon  in  Carnegie 
Hall  in  New  York,  to  an  overflowing  audience,  in 
which  he  said  :  "  There  is  hardly  a  name  so  un- 
popular in  the  world  to-day  as  that  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Is  there  a  nation  in  the  world  that  wants  Him  to 
return  to  earth  ?  Is  there  a  state  in  this  Union  that 
would  like  to  have  Him  come  back  and  rule  the  world  ? 
Would  this  country,  if  the  question  were  submitted 
to  a  popular  vote,  express  a  desire  to  have  Christ  on 
earth  ?  Would  England,  or  Germany,  or  France,  or 
Spain,  or  Italy,  or  any  other  of  the  nations  of 
Christendom  do  it  ?  No ;  wouldn't  Christ,  if  He  did 
come  back  to  reign,  find  the  world  in  just  the  same 
condition  as  He  found  it  eighteen  hundred  years 
ago  ?  " 

In  September  1899  Bishop  Bradley  of 
Manchester,  New  Hampshire,  spoke  in  St  Joseph's 
Cathedral  in  that  city,  and  said  :  "  One  does  not  need 
to  more  than  keep  his  ear  open  to  note  that  there  is 
among  mankind  a  spreading  disregard  for  authority 
of  the  state  and  of  the  church  and  all  other  authority, 
including  that  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Contrast  with  these  the  burning  words  of 
Tertullian,  one  of  the  great  fathers  of  the  early  church, 
himself  the  son  of  a  Roman  soldier,  born  in  Carthage, 
and  who  embraced  Christianity  in  the  maturity  of 
his  manly  powers,  and  wrote  nearly  two  hundred 
years  after  the  Christian  era,  at  a  period  which  we 
consider  to  have  been  the  very  infancy  of  the  power 
of  the  church  of  Christ.  But,  alas  !  how  different 
those  ages  were  in  reality  1  Appealing  to  the  Roman 

28 


DESPIRITUALISING  THE  CHURCH       29 

people,  he  exclaims  :  "  We  are  of  yesterday,  and  yet 
we  fill  all  your  places,  your  cities,  islands,  castles, 
towns,  courts,  your  very  camps,  your  Senate,  your 
markets,  we  have  left  you  only  your  temples."  He 
pictures  the  desolation  and  solitude,  the  general 
stillness  and  dullness,  as  if  of  a  dead  world,  which  the 
absence  of  the  Christians  would  produce,  and  says, 
'  You  would  have  more  enemies  left  than  citizens/' 

And  why  had  this  great  change,  this  miraculous 
conversion  to  Christianity  of  whole  alien  peoples 
occurred  ?  Irenaeus,  another  of  the  great  church 
fathers,  who  was  contemporary  with  Tertullian,  and 
whose  testimony  Tertullian  confirms,  says  : 

"  On  this  account  also  His  true  disciples,  receiving 
grace  from  Him,  perform  miracles  in  His  name  for  the 
benefit  of  men,  as  each  of  them  has  received  the  gift 
from  Him  !y  For  some  truly  and  really  expel  demons  ; 
and  others'  have  foreknowledge  of  the  future,  and 
visions,  and  prophetic  utterances.  Others  heal  the 
sick  and  make  them  well,  by  imposition  of  their  hands. 
And  even  now,  as  we  have  said,  the  dead  have  also 
been  raised,  and  have  remained  with  us  many  years. 
As  also  we  have  many  brethren  in  the  church  having 
prophetic  gifts,  and  speaking  in  all  foreign  tongues, 
and  bringing  to  light  the  secrets  of  men  for  a  good 
purpose." 

Speaking  historically,  I  am  not  concerned  in  this 
matter  to  concede  or  reject  the  statement  of  Irenaeus 
as  to  what  the  disciples  of  Jesus  did  after  His  execution 
— and  by  disciples  Irenaeus  does  not  mean  the 
apostles,  but  those  spiritual  disciples  who  in  bodily 
form  were  alleged  to  be  performing  those  same 
miracles,  expelling  demons,  having  foreknowledge  of 
the  future,  visions,  prophetic  utterances,  healing  of 
the  sick  by  imposition  of  hands,  speaking  in  foreign 
tongues,  and  bringing  to  light  the  secrets  of  men  for  a 
good  purpose,  in  Irenaeus'  own  day,  two  centuries 
after  the  birth  of  Christ.  It  suffices  for  my  argument 
that  all  these  miracles,  so-called,  had  been  performed 
by  Christ  and  His  apostles,  if  the  New  Testament 
is  to  be  believed,  and  the  evidence  does  not  depend 
solely  on  the  New  Testament  writers,  for  every  one 


30  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

of  these  phenomena  are  common  spiritual  experiences 
throughout  the  whole  world,  both  before  and  since  the 
time  of  Jesus,  and  in  recent  years  have  been  scientific- 
ally demonstrated,  and  many  of  the  facts  almost 
universally  accepted. 

But  there  is  one  class  of  miracle,  so-called,  of 
which  Irenaeus  says  :  "  And  even  now,  as  we  have 
said,  the  dead  have  also  been  raised  and  have  re- 
mained with  us  for  many  years,"  which  requires, 
in  any  discussion  of  psychology,  to  be  considered. 
It  is  true  that  on  the  resurrection  of  Christ  the  whole 
system  of  orthodox  Christianity  is  based,  and  that 
the  miracle  of  raising  the  dead  was  narrated  a  number 
of  times  as  having  been  performed  by  Christ  while 
living  as  a  man  on  earth. 

But  to  many  Christian  minds,  imbued  with  the 
older  notions  of  psychology,  in  which  an  all-working 
material  nature  had  supplanted  an  all-working, 
spiritual  God,  in  which,  as  Romanes  says,  "  God  is 
still  grudged  His  own  universe,"  these  statements 
appear  as  pure  superstitions,  born  of  the  spiritual 
exaltation  of  enthusiasm,  instead  of  the  spiritual 
power  of  life.  Even  the  orthodox  are  very  apt  to 
fight  shy  of  these  narratives,  feeling  that  they  are 
"  hard  sayings." 

Now,  it  does  not  concern  the  purposes  of  this  book 
to  assert  that  these  were  veritable  cases,  or  to  deny 
that  they  were  ;  it  is  altogether  immaterial,  but  it 
does  concern  the  purposes  of  this  book  to  show  that 
such  an  exercise  of  spiritual  power  was,  and  still 
is,  quite  consistent  with  what  we  know  of  scientific 
psychology,  and  of  human  experience. 

Various  explanations  have  been  suggested,  all 
based  on  mistakes  of  the  observers.  Discounting  that 
of  fraud,  by  showing  that  the  conditions  of  life  are 
such  as  to  render  this  explanation,  while  often 
reasonable,  not  necessary,  and  not  necessarily 
scientific,  the  principal  allegation  is  that  these  were, 
simply  cases  of  "  suspended  animation."  This  sus- 
pended animation  is  like  the  term  "  hypnotism," 
which  those  who  understand  it  least  are  most  apt  to 
use  to  satisfy  their  doubts. 


DESPIRITUALISING  THE  CHURCH       31 

What  is  the^difference  between  a  case  of  sus- 
pended animation  and  death  ?    It  is  simply  this  : 
if  the  subject  returns  to  animation  again  it  is  sus- 
pended animation,  if  not,  it  is  death.     It  is  obvious 
that  this  is  merely  begging  the  question.     There  is. 
in  fact,  no  actual  test  of  death  except  decomposition. 
But  Decomposition  itself  is  no  test  of  death  if  biology 
has  any  right  to  speak,  for  we  find  that  those  animals 
jKhiclLujidergo  various  stages  of  metamorphosis  in 
teaching  their   final  stage   undergo   actual   decom- 
position  throughout,   at   every   stage,   and   a   new 
animal  is  actually  created  out  of  the  raw  material. 
as  much  as  though  built  up  de  novo.    This,  of  course, 
is  well  known  to  modern  naturalists,  but  was_±otaUy. 
unknown  to  the  older  ones,  .who  believed  and  taught 
that  new  organs  were  merely  grown  out  of  the  older 
structure,  as  branches  grow  on  trees.     But  we  know 
better  now.     To  cite  a  book  accessible  everywhere, 
I  quote  the  following  from  Orton's  "Comparative 
Zoology  "  (1884)  :  "_Every  tissue   of  the  larva  dis_- 
appears  before  the  development  of  the  new  tissues  of  the 
^mago  is  commenced.     The  organs  do  not  change  £rpm 
one  into  the  other,  but  the  new  set  is  developed  out  of 
formless  matter. "     As  the  larva  disappears  for  ever 
by  Hpr.nmpQfritjnn  into  formless  matter,  that  certainly 
is  dead  under  the  severest  test  of  death.     Ss*  the 
imago  is  developed  out  of  the  same  formless  matter, 
then,  if  there  were  remaining  life^it  was  not  the  life"  of 
±he  lary_a  ;   it  was  a  new  creation  of  life  unless,  ami 
this  is  the  vital  point,  life  is  not  tiedT  fast  fcTforms, 
but  is  independent  of  form,  and  produces  torms?  and 
heredity,  if  we  choose  Jo  call  it  such,  is  immaterial 
and  extraneous  in  its_work~as~lf~mddiner  ancTpro- 
ducer — that  is  to  say,  the  larva  dies  as  larva,  but  the 
life  principle  continues  and  rebuilds  a  new  structure 
.out  of  the  raw  material  of  the  old^    We  do  indeed 
"  make  steppingrgtones  of  our  dead  selves." 

Sir  John  Franklin,  in  the  narrative  of  his  expedi- 
tion across  Canada  to  the  Arctic  Ocean  in  1819-1820, 
narrates  that  "  when  the  weather  was  severe  the  fish 
froze  as  they  were  taken  out  of  the  nets  ;  and  if  they 
were  afterwards  placed  near  the  fire  so  as  to  thaw  the 


32  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

ice,  they  revived,  even  when  they  had  been  in  a 
frozen  state  for  several  hours." 

I  can  corroborate  this  statement ;  I  have  seen  a 
small  lake  caught  in  a  freezing  snap  in  which  the 
ice  suddenly  froze  several  inches  deep,  and  locked  in 
thousands  of  large  fish,  which  the  farmers  quarried 
out  like  nuggets.  Many  days  might  elapse,  and  yet 
these  chunks  of  fish  and  ice,  if  placed  in  a  vessel  of 
cool  water,  would  show  the  fish  swimming  about  as  the 
ice  melted. 

It  is  a  well-known  experiment  to  revive  drowned 
house  flies  by  placing  them  on  a  board  and  covering 
them  with  a  little  dry  kitchen  salt.  They  will  re- 
vive, either  singly  or  in  bunches,  even  if  they  have 
been  under  water  for  twenty-four  hours  or  longer. 
Anyone  can  try  this  experiment  for  himself. 

Partial  death  is  common  ;  take  the  case  of  a 
gangrene  of  the  leg  from  an  arterial  plug  in  the  main 
artery ;  when  did  death  of  the  leg  supervene,  and 
what  was  the  test  ?  Will  boiling  water  destroy 
human  life  ?  A  method  of  treating  deep  wounds  on 
the  battlefield,  and  arresting  haemorrhage  by  injecting 
live  steam  to  the  bottom,  through  a  pipe,  has  been 
successfully  used  ;  and  after  a  few  days  the  boiled 
flesh,  and  its  nerves,  blood-vessels,  lymphatics,  etc., 
are  slowly  restored  to  life  again, 

Then  we  have  those  psychical  departures  of  the 
spiritual,  or  conscious,  or  sub-conscious  part  of  the 
mentality,  and  its  return,  and  in  fact  examples  of  all 
sorts,  which  go  to  show  that  the  vitality,  while  not 
apart  from  the  body  in  life,  is  still  a  psychical  co- 
ordinate, and  was  apart  before  the  body  began,  is 
sometimes  apart  while  the  body  continues,  and  will  be 
permanently  apart  when  the  functions  of  the  body 
have  finally  ceased.  That  is  all  we  can  say  ;  but  the 
facts,  while  they  make  my  former  statement  of  the 
ordinary  test,  that  "  if  they  return  to  life  they  have 
not  been  dead,  if  they  do  not  return  they  are  dead," 
a  case  of  begging  the  question,  yet,  in  a  broader  sense, 
it  is  the  only  test. 

I  was  once  an  involuntary  party  to  such  a  resur- 
rection. When  a  boy  of  perhaps  eight  or  ten  years 
old,  there  was  a  fierce,  hairy,  red-faced  and  vindictive 


DESPIRITUALISING  THE  CHURCH       33 

old  fellow,  who  was  the  terror  of  all  the  boys  who  were 
able  to  fire  green  apples  and  the  like  with  any  sort  of 
precision,  and  even  we  innocent  ones  were  ferociously, 
and  with  terrific  imprecations,  pursued  by  this  great 
ogre  with  the  enormous  stick  and  knife  which  he 
always  carried.  Old  Captain  Zum  was  his  name,  and 
his  occupation  was  to  trudge  from  farm  to  farm  and 
do  such  surgical  work  on  the  porcine  inhabitants  as 
the  occasion  required. 

On  one  of  these  journeys,  some  miles  away,  he  fell 
sick  at  a  farmer's  place,  and  apparently  died.  Every 
effort  was  made  by  family  and  physicians  to  save 
him,  but  in  vain,  and  late  at  night  he  was  regretfully 
laid  out  on  a  "  cooling  board  "  in  the  wash-house  to 
await  the  morning.  After  breakfast,  the  "  hired 
man  "  was  sent  to  the  village  with  the  dire  intelli- 
gence, and  the  undertaker  rode  out  to  examine  the 
remains,  and  take  the  proper  measurements,  for  in 
those  days  the  mortuary  receptacles  were  built  to 
order,  and  not  kept  in  stock.  So  another  day  passed 
while  the  coffin-maker  plied  his  tools,  and  the  be- 
reaved family  fixed  up  the  house  for  the  reception  of 
the  silent  guest.  Next  morning,  now  the  third  day,  a 
couple  of  men  with  an  open  spring  waggon  drove  out 
to  bring  in  the  body.  It  was  intensely,  terrifically 
cold,  and  when  the  team  reached  the  village  store  it 
was  halted,  and  the  driver  and  his  assistant  went  in  to 
warm  up,  for  they  were  nearly  frozen. 

We  boys,  standing  on  the  store  porch,  gazed 
over  the  white  sheet,  which  marked  the  rise  of  the 
forehead,  the  stumpy  nose  and  chin,  the  swell  of  the 
abdomen,  the  knobby  knees,  and  then  the  stiff  feet 
standing  up  like  mile-posts,  and  the  final  drop  till 
the  sheet  met  the  long,  projecting  rye-straw,  which 
made  the  cleanly  bed  for  our  erstwhile  enemy.  Was 
it  true  ?  Was  this  the  old  captain  in  full  sooth  ? 

Slowly,  boy  by  boy,  we  crept  down  and  climbed 
up  the  wheels  of  the  waggon,  two  or  three  on  each  hub, 
to  get  a  better  view.  There  he  lay,  cold  and  dead — 
cold  certainty. 

I  took  hold  of  the  corner  of  the  sheet  above  his 
head,  and  slowly  raised  it,  to  gaze  upon  that  well- 


34  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

known  face  ;  when  suddenly,  instantaneously,  over- 
whelmingly, he  whirled  over,  rose  on  his  elbow,  and 
hoarsely  shouted  out  in  our  faces,  "  What  the  devil 
are  you  doing  there  ?  " 

Shades  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  !  such  a  tumbling 
backward  to  escape  ;  but  the  old  captain  rode  home 
in  triumph,  damned  his  old  wife  and  lammed  his 
hapless  daughter,  and  lived  through  eleven  long 
seasons  of  green  apples  afterwards.  Peace  to  his 
ashes  :  for  then  he  died,  and  stayed  dead. 

With  all  the  modern  appliances,  the  old  captain 
would  have  had  his  tombstone  carved  with  the  earlier 
date,  and  would  have  there  lain  silent  beneath  the 
sod ;  and  all  the  neighbours  would  have  dated 
various  events  as  a  year  after,  or  two  winters  before, 
old  Captain  Zum  died,  had  I  not  involuntarily  re- 
surrected him,  as  I  did. 

The  problem  is  not  so  easy ;  the  case  is  not  so 
plain ;  it  is  simply  a  matter  of  evidence  for  each 
case  ;  and  modern  psychology  has  no  dogma,  no  a 
priori,  but  leaves  the  question  of  fact,  while  not 
denying  that  of  scientific  possibility.  There  is  no 
scientific  reason  why  a  believer  should  not  fully 
believe  it ;  there  is  no  reason  at  all  why  a  sceptic 
should  have  to  believe  it — at  least,  not  yet. 

I  do  not  sustain  my  view  merely  on  assertion  ;  I 
quote  the  following  from  one  of  the  soundest  and 
strongest  men  of  science  which  the  recent  half- 
century  has  produced,  one  whose  whole  study  was 
in  the  cold  and  solid  fields  of  science,  George  John 
Romanes,  of  whom  I  shall  have  much  to  say  later 
on. 

These  are  his  words  :  "  Why  should  it  be  thought 
a  thing  incredible  with  you  that  God  should  raise  the 
dead  ?  Clearly  no  answer  can  be  given  by  the  pure 
agnostic.  But  he  will  naturally  say  in  reply  :  '  The 
question  rather  is,  why  should  it  be  thought  credible 
with  you  that  there  is  a  God,  or,  if  there  is,  that  he 
should  raise  the  dead  ? '  And  I  think  the  wis'e 
Christian  will  answer, '  I  believe  in  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead,  partly  on  grounds  of  reason,  partly  on 
those  of  intuition,  but  chiefly  on  both  combined ;  so 


DESPIRITUALISING  THE  CHURCH        35 

to  speak,  it  is  my  whole  character  which  accepts 
the  whole  system  of  which  the  doctrine  of  personal 
immortality  forms  an  essential  part/  And  to  this 
it  may  be  fairly  added  that  the  Christian  doctrine  of 
the  resurrection  of  our  bodily  form  cannot  have  been 
arrived  at  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  modern 
materialistic  objections  to  the  doctrine  of  personal 
immortality  ;  hence  it  is  certainly  a  strange  doctrine 
to  have  been  propounded  at  that  time,  together  with 
its  companion,  and  scarcely  less  distinctive,  doctrine 
of  the  vileness  of  the  body.  Why  was  it  not  said 
that  the  '  soul '  alone  should  survive  as  a  disem- 
bodied '  spirit '  ?  Or  if  form  were  supposed  necessary 
for  man  as  distinguished  from  God,  that  he  was  to  be 
an  angel  ?  But,  be  this  as  it  may,  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  seems  to  have  fully  met  beforehand 
the  materialistic  objection  to  a  future  life,  and  so  to 
have  raised  the  ulterior  question  with  which  this 
paragraph  opens." 


CHAPTER   V 

THE  SPIRITUAL  CONFLICT  WITHIN  THE  CHURCH 

IT  was  thus  that  Christianity  rode  triumphant  over 
Greek  and  Roman  philosophy  and  civilisation, 
cherished  by  the  whole  world,  even  to  this  day,  as 
among  its  most  precious  heritages  (and,  indeed,  the 
unacknowledged  source  of  a  large  portion  of  our 
modern  "  scientific  "  scepticism)  ;  and  it  swept  for- 
ward amid  the  fires  of  persecution  which  filled  the 
sky  with  the  smoke  of  burning  victims,  which  lined 
the  highways  with  Christian-laden  crucifixes,  and 
filled  the  dungeons,  and  made  public  arenas  the 
crunching-grounds  of  wild  beasts,  fed  with  hosts  of 
helpless  women  and  tender  babes,  as  well  as 
martyred  men,  and  won  well-nigh  universal  victory. 
Who  is  so  credulous  as  to  believe  that  this  tremendous 
cataclysm  of  old  faiths,  and  the  resistless  advance 
and  triumph  of  the  new,  among  nations  so  haughty, 
hard-headed  and  brainy  as  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
Romans,  were  but  the  thaumaturgical  trickery  of  a 
few  unknown,  discredited  and  apostate,  prestidigitat- 
ing  Jewish  peasants  ? 

Says  Du  Prel,  in  his  "  Philosophy  of  Mysticism  "  : 
"  The  condition  in  which  the  Protean  trans- 
scendental  Subject  can  be  stimulated  is  somnam- 
bulism. It  is  not  alone  animal  magnetism  which  can 
awaken  this  condition  ;  there  are  other  causes  which 
also  introduce  it :  as  disturbances  of  the  cerebral  life, 
a  high  tension  of  imaginative  power,  profound  in- 
ternal agitation,  and  likewise  inspiration  of  certain 
vapours,  the  use  of  different  vegetable  substances,  and 
the  influence  of  minerals.  So  that  somnambulism  is 
by  no  means  historically  confined  to  the  knowledge  of 
animal  magnetism.  We  find  it  at  all  times.  Som- 

36 


CONFLICT    WITHIN    THE    CHURCH      37 

nambulism  is  the  fundamental  form  of  all  mysticism. 
It  explains  to  us  different  phenomena  of  remote  and 
classical  antiquity,  it  delivers  to  us  the  key  to  the 
understanding  of  the  most  remarkable  documents  of 
mankind,  the  Vedas  and  the  Bible.  But  especially 
is  it  the  period  of  mediaeval  culture,  from  the  compre- 
hension of  which  our  modern  enlightenment  is  more 
remote  than  ever,  which  we  learn  to  understand  in  the 
study  of  somnambulism.  Without  this,  not  only 
enchantment  and  witchcraft,  but  also  Christian 
mysticism,  remain  problematic ;  for  it  is  from  som- 
nambulism that  magic  of  whatever  quality  sets  out." 

And  this  somnambulism  was  the  trance  or  inspira- 
tion under  which  the  ancient  prophets  spake  and  the 
apostles  wrote.  When  Paul  was  "  out  of  the  body," 
when  the  author  of  the  Revelation  saw  the  heavens 
opened,  when  visions  were  interpreted,  and  when 
the  wondrous  story  of  the  creation  was  told,  when 
Elisha's  eyes  were  opened,  and  when  Saul  saw  gods 
ascending,  through  all  the  ages  of  which  the  Bible  is 
the  record,  somnambulism  was  the  gate  by  which  the 
transcendental  subject  was  revealed,  whose  scope  was 
the  universe,  and  whose  lifetime  was  eternity. 

But  when  faith  was  lost  in  ironbound  sacerdo- 
talism, and  sacerdotalism  in  Sadduceeism  and  ag- 
nosticism, the  old  spiritualistic  forces  of  the  church 
triumphant  ebbed  and  sank,  and  slowly  and  re- 
luctantly disappeared,  while  outside  its  boundaries 
a  more  free  and  unecclesiastical  experimentalism 
gradually  gained  new  ground,  just  as  had  been  fore- 
told when  Christianity  was  first  established. 

If  these  phenomena  of  spiritualistic  power,  mani- 
fested over  the  whole  world,  have  been  only  the 
isolated,  sporadic  and  disconnected  contacts  with 
this  great  prime  source,  what  could  not  be  expected 
of  Christianity  in  this  day,  were  it  to  turn  back  to  its 
original  and  vitalising  ideals,  and  reunite  in  one  grand, 
enthusiastic,  and  inspired,  and  spirit-charged  advance 
with  the  almighty  force  of  the  living  God  behind  it  ? 

Many  of  the  ablest  thinkers  and  writers  see  the 
approaching  dawn  of  this  great  movement,  and  per- 
ceive in  modern  spiritualism  a  new  John  the  Baptist, 


38  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

with  its  rough  and  often  uncouth  girdle  of  camel's 
hair,  and  its  uncultured  diet  of  locusts  and  wild 
honey,  and,  perchance,  with  its  crown  of  triumphant 
martyrdom. 

For  many  heroic  soldiers  must  be  shot  to  death 
between  the  lines  before  the  great  final  advance 
occurs,  which  carries  by  storm  the  earthworks  and 
fortifications  of  the  enemy. 

The  result  of  these  processes  of  negation,  in  the 
church,  of  a  living  and  inspiring  faith,  the  relegation 
of  the  life  of  the  church  to  an  ancient,  imperfect  and 
uncertain  record,  buried  in  the  mouldering  pages  of 
old  manuscripts,  of  which  only  mutilated  copies  were 
existent,  or  a  subsequently  printed  book  in  which  the 
study  of  the  living  God  was  replaced  by  a  super- 
stitious bibliolatry,  when  religion  was  cast  and 
frozen  into  glittering  icicles  of  creeds  and  catechisms, 
could  easily  have  been  foreseen.  The  multiplication 
of  sects  and  theories  has  gone  on  and  on,  like  a 
magnificent  and  gorgeous  iceberg  splintering  into 
destruction  by  its  own  frosts  and  collisions,  and  over 
the  tottering  remains  has  been  raised,  in  the  name  of 
the  "  Goddess  of  Reason  "  (dear  to  the  sans-culottes 
of  the  French  Revolution,  and  their  fellows  of  to-day), 
the  pseudo-scientific  temple  of  infidelity,  agnosticism 
and  atheism.  It  is  but  one  short  step  from  belief  in  a 
dead  Bible  to  belief  in  a  dead  God. 

Says  Professor  Herron,  of  the  chair  of  Applied 
Christianity  in  Iowa  College  :  "  Most  of  us  accept 
traditions  of  a  God  who  lived  down  through  the 
Hebrew  prophets  and  the  early  Christian  apostles. 
Possibly  some  of  us  have  an  undefined  sense  that 
God  was  living  during  the  Reformation  and  until  the 
Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth  Rock.  Or  we  are 
willing  to  believe,  and  that  with  a  considerable  degree 
of  emotion,  in  a  God  who  will  live  suddenly  and 
immensely  in  some  after-death  world,  or  in  some 
remote  millennium,  in  which  he  shall  sit  in  terrific 
judgment  on  the  world.  But  the  idea  that  God  is 
living  now,  in  the  midst  of  a  living  people,  inspiring 
and  teaching  them  even  more  directly  than  he  in- 
spired and  taught  the  people  of  centuries  ago,  with 


CONFLICT    WITHIN    THE    CHURCH      39 

revelations  concerning  our  present  problems  as  sure 
and  safe  as  any  revelations  of  the  past,  and  with 
judgments  as  swift  and  immediate  as  any  judgments 
of  the  future — at  such  a  faith  we  grow  pale,  or  turn 
from  it  in  anger. 

"  We  forget  that  the  prophets  and  martyrs  and 
apostles  have  met  their  tragic  ends  just  because  they 
insisted  that  God  was  alive,  and  saying  things  about 
the  immediate  and  practical  concerns  of  men  ;  that 
they  characterised  as  downright  infidelity  the  beliefs 
that  put  God  into  yesterday  and  his  judgments  into 
to-morrow." 

The  living  surge  of  enthusiastic,  spiritualistic  and 
conquering  Christianity,  thus  caught  among  the 
breakers,  trammelled  and  scattered,  has  spent  its 
energy  in  self-destructive  eddies,  and  largely  lost  the 
vitalising  force  which  first  impelled  it  onward. 

As  Canon  Barnett  has  recently  expressed  it : 
"  Morality  for  the  mass  of  men  has  been  dependent 
on  the  consciousness  of  God,  and  with  the  lack  of 
means  of  expression,  the  consciousness  of  God  seems 
to  have  ceased."  The  "  Means  of  Expression  "  are 
the  means  of  spiritualism.  But  out  of  this  decadent 
gospel  of  agnosticism  and  negation  a  new  knowledge 
is  arising,  and  both  science  and  religion,  as  soon  as 
they  cast  aside  their  earth-grimed  garments  of  pride, 
prejudice  and  self-sufficiency,  find  new  and  sure 
demonstrations  of  the  eternally  living  truth  at  hand 
on  every  side,  so  that  not  even  a  half-dozen  friends, 
who  are  earnest  seekers,  can  be  gotten  together 
seriously  to  investigate  these  phenomena,  among 
whom  palpable  manifestations  of  this  living  power 
will  not  appear.  Spiritualists  will  stake  their  whole 
case  on  this  simple  proposition. 

Said  Jesus,  "  And  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world  "  ;  and,  "  Where  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name  there  am  I 
in  the  midst  of  them."  Death  does  not  end  all,  and  it 
is  in  this  way  that  a  new  and  broadening  Christianity 
is  being  gradually  developed,  free,  on  the  one  hand, 
from  the  bigoted  domination  of  the  old  theological 
systems,  and,  on  the  other,  from  the  superstitious 


40  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

credulity  of  the  ignorant,  as  well  as  from  the  equally 
superstitious  incredulity,  which  will  not  even  look, 
lest  it  be  forced  to  see,  of  modern  agnosticism.  Like 
old  Barbara  Frietchie,  spiritualism,  in  an  age  of 
cowardice  and  faithlessness, 

"Took  up  the  flag  the  men  hauled  down." 

She  flung  it  forth  in  the  face  of  the  invading  host, 
and  established  again  the  rational  development  of 
spiritual  knowledge  and  the  religious  life  and  fellow- 
ship, by  a  continuous  intercommunication  between 
the  great  and  good  of  this  world,  and  those  of  the 
life  yet  to  come. 

But  this  great  Protestant  revolt  against 
ecclesiastical  dominion,  involving,  as  it  did,  the  denial 
of  spiritualism  as  a  whole,  in  order  to  overthrow  it 
as  the  most  powerful  supporter  of  the  old  faith,  was 
not  the  first  great  revolt  of  the  church.  When 
Christianity  first  arose  it  was  but  a  weakling,  so  far 
as  this  world  was  concerned  ;  it  grew  and  grew  with 
gradually  increasing  momentum,  so  that  it  stood 
face  to  face  and  equal  with  the  paganism  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  which  was  practically  the  civilisation 
of  the  world  ;  and,  as  this  paganism  had  gradually 
absorbed  into  itself  the  art  of  antiquity,  so  that  art 
had  become  tributary  to  and  the  most  powerful 
supporter  of  the  ancient  faith — was  linked  fast  to  it, 
and  was  gradually  made  its  tributary  and  tool — the 
rising  Christianity  would  have  no  part  or  parcel  of  all 
this  art,  for  to  accept  art  was  to  palter  with  faith,  so 
closely  were  the  two  bound  together. 

If  you  take  spiritualism  out  of  the  world  you  leave 
it  very  poor,  and  if  you  take  art  out  of  the  world  you 
leave  it  very  poor  also.  But  it  was  necessary,  in 
both  cases,  to  do  this,  and  stern,  puritanic,  ascetic 
Christianity  fought  its  century-long  battle  against 
paganism,  and  destroyed  it  by  destroying  with  it  the 
artistic  light  of  mankind. 

The  victory  was  won  ;  the  cross  with  its  bloody 
emblems  had  triumphed,  and  the  beautiful  world  lay 
stripped  and  desolate. 

But  time  brought  its  revenges  ;  when  the  ages  of 


CONFLICT    WITHIN    THE    CHURCH      4* 

Christianity  had  multiplied,  and  the  gods  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  of  Egypt  and  Babylon,  of  Phoenicia  and 
Persia  and  India,  had  gone  into  exile  with  all  their 
art  and  aesthetic  and  soul-enchanting  symbolism, 
but  ever  merged  with  a  battling  mythology,  and 
Christianity  stood  secure  at  last  against  them  ;  then, 
little  by  little,  age  by  age,  the  old  arts  wound  again 
their  almost  unseen  tendrils  around  the  cross  and  the 
altar,  and,  gradually  revealing  their  soul-compelling 
truth  and  beauty,  became  a  part  indeed,  again,  of  the 
new  theology,  or  mythology,  and  not  only  overlaid 
their  altars,  but  penetrated,  modified  and,  at  last, 
filled  with  their  splendid  bursts  of  ritual,  the  pro- 
cessions of  saints,  the  festivals,  the  fasts,  the  cere- 
monies of  the  church,  until  to-day  the  student  of 
comparative  religion  traces  back  many  of  the  ac- 
knowledged practices,  and  even  beliefs,  of  the 
Christian  church  to  times  and  places  far  antecedent 
to  even  the  birth  and  teaching  of  Christ.  They  came 
in  new  guise,  untrammelled  by  the  nomenclature  and 
environment  of  the  old,  but  the  virile  truth  could  not 
be  destroyed,  the  world-religion  could  not  be  ex- 
tinguished, the  revelation  which  preceded  the  New 
Testament,  and  which  came  in,  and  is  identifiable 
in,  all  old  religions,  was  continuously  manifest  again. 
So  the  Jesuit  missionaries  found  these  practices 
among  the  Buddhists,  who  came  six  centuries  before 
Christ,  the  Spanish  friars  found  them  among  the 
Ancient  Central  Americans,  and  missionaries  found 
them  wherever  they  penetrated,  so  that  Father 
Montucci,  the  Jesuit,  in  his  "  Chinese  Studies,"  was 
fain  to  say  a  century  ago  :  "  No  one  can  doubt  that 
the  mystery  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity  was  revealed  to 
the  Chinese  five  centuries  before  the  coming  of  Jesus 
Christ." 

And  it  is  so  with  the  Protestant  church  and 
spiritualism.  When  the  older  church  had  become 
in  its  practices,  but  not  in  its  faith,  intolerable,  and 
the  revolt  came,  as  it  must  have  come,  the  revolt 
which  awakened  and  purified  the  thunderstricken 
old  church  itself,  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  destroy 
its  spiritualism,  for,  this  once  destroyed,  the  Bible 


42  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

was  its  sole  remaining  instrument,  and  its  claims 
were  supreme  ;  and  this,  when  men  came  to  see  and 
reflect,  left  nothing  behind  but  a  dubious  record  and 
an  absentee  God,  and  an  alliance  with  materialism 
bald  and  bare  ;  and  the  later  changes  were  inevitable, 
in  the  form  of  a  revolt  from  nihilism  as  the  previous 
revolt  was  from  asceticism,  and  the  original  one  from 
paganism,  and  this  secret  revolt  has  filled  our  churches 
with  spiritualists,  while  their  creeds  and  dogmas  are 
still  of  the  benighted  past. 

A  clergyman  of  one  of  our  largest  Protestant 
denominations,  returning,  a  few  years  ago,  from  one 
of  their  general  assemblies,  and  who  spent  a  few  days 
with  me,  said  that,  "  If  a  clergyman  had  risen  and 
stated  what  three-fourths  of  them  honestly  believed 
he  would  have  been  expelled  by  a  two-thirds  vote." 


CHAPTER   VI 

CAUSALITY 

THE  fatal  fallacy  of  the  dominant  Protestant  theology 
could  not  have  been  more  clearly  stated  than  in  the 
chapter  on  Causality  by  Romanes,  who  was  not  a 
theologian,  but  a  great  master  of  science,  who  died  a 
firm  Christian  believer — who  had  in  fact  been  forced, 
by  science  itself,  to  become  a  believer. 

He  says  :  "  Only  because  we  are  so  familiar  with 
the  great  phenomena  of  causality  do  we  take  it  for 
granted,  and  think  that  we  reach  an  ultimate  ex- 
planation of  anything  when  we  have  succeeded  in 
finding  the  '  cause  '  thereof  :  when,  in  point  of  fact, 
we  have  only  succeeded  in  merging  it  in  the  mystery 
of  mysteries.  I  often  wish  we  could  have  come  into 
the  world,  like  the  young  of  some  other  mammals, 
with  all  the  powers  of  intellect  that  we  shall  ever 
subsequently  attain  akeady  developed,  but  without 
any  individual  experience,  and  so  without  any  of  the 
blunting  defects  of  custom.  Could  we  have  done  so, 
surely  nothing  in  the  world  would  more  acutely 
excite  our  intelligent  astonishment  than  the  one 
universal  fact  of  causation.  That  everything  which 
happens  should  have  a  cause,  that  this  should  in- 
variably have  been  proportioned  to  its  effect,  so  that, 
mo  matter  how  complex  the  interaction  of  causes,  the 
same  interaction  should  always  produce  the  same 
result :  that  this  rigidly  exact  system  of  energising 
should  be  found  to  present  all  the  appearances  of 
universality  and  of  eternity,  so  that,  for  example,  the 
motion  of  the  solar  system  in  space  is  being  deter- 
mined by  some  causes  beyond  human  ken,  and  that 
we  are  indebted  to  billions  of  cellular  unions,  each  in- 
volving billions  of  separate  causes,  for  our  hereditary 

43 


44  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

passage  from  an  invertebrate  ancestry — that  such 
things  should  be,  would  surely  strike  us  as  the  most 
wonderful  fact  in  this  wonderful  universe. 

"  Now,  although  familiarity  with  this  fact  has 
made  us  forget  its  wonder  to  the  extent  of  virtually 
assuming  that  we  know  all  about  it,  philosophical 
inquiry  shows  that,  besides  empirically  knowing  it 
to  be  a  fact,  we  only  know  one  other  thing  about  it 
viz. — that  our  knowledge  of  it  is  derived  from  our 
own  activity  when  we  ourselves  are  causes.  No 
result  of  psychological  analysis  seems  to  me  more 
certain  than  this.  If  it  were  not  for  our  own  voli- 
tions, we  should  be  ignorant  of  what  we  can  now  not 
doubt,  on  pain  of  suicidal  scepticism,  to  be  the  most 
general  fact  of  nature. 

"  Now  to  the  plain  man  it  will  always  seem  that  if 
our  very  notion  of  causality  is  derived  from  our  own 
volition — as  our  very  notion  of  energy  is  derived  from 
our  sense  of  effort  in  overcoming  resistance  by  our 
volition — presumably  the  truest  notion  we  can  form 
of  that  in  which  causation  objectively  consists  is  the 
notion  derived  from  that  known  mode  of  existence 
which  alone  gives  us  the  notion  of  causality  at  all. 
Hence  the  plain  man  will  always  infer  that  all  energy 
is  of  the  nature  of  will-energy,  and  all  objective 
causation  of  the  nature  of  subjective.  ...  So  that 
the  direct  and  most  natural  interpretation  of 
causality  in  external  nature  which  is  drawn  by  primi- 
tive thought  in  savages  and  young  children,  seems 
destined  to  become  also  the  ultimate  deliverance  of 
human  thought  in  the  highest  levels  of  its  culture." 

Many  years  before  Romanes,  Sir  John  Herschel 
had  presented  the  same  inevitable  truth  in  his  chapter 
on  "  The  Origin  of  Force." 

"  Whenever,"  this  distinguished  man  of  science 
says,  "  in  the  material  world,  what  we  call  a  phenome- 
non or  an  event  takes  place,  we  either  find  it  resolvable 
ultimately  into  some  change  of  place  or  of  movement 
in  material  substance,  or  we  endeavour  to  trace  it  up 
to  some  such  change  ;  and  only  when  successful  in 
such  endeavour  we  consider  that  we  have  arrived  at  its 
theory.  In  every  such  change  we  recognise  the  action 


CAUSALITY  45 

of  FORCE.  And  in  the  only  case  in  which  we  are 
admitted  into  any  personal  knowledge  of  the  origin 
of  force,  we  find  it  connected  (possibly  by  inter- 
mediate links  untraceable  by  our  faculties,  but  yet 
indisputably  connected}  with  volition,  and  by  in- 
evitable consequence,  with  motive,  with  intellect,  and 
with  all  those  attitudes  of  mind  in  which — and  not  in 
the  possession  of  arms,  legs,  brains,  and  viscera — 
personality  consists."  .  .  . 

"If  it  be  true,  then,  that  the  conception  of 
FORCE  as  the  originator  of  motion  in  matter  without 
bodily  contact,  or  the  intervention  of  any  inter- 
medium, is  essential  to  a  right  interpretation  of  physi- 
cal phenomena  ;  and  if  it  be  equally  so,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  its  exertion  makes  itself  manifest  to  our 
personal  consciousness  by  that  peculiar  sensation  of 
effort,  which  is  not  without  its  analogue  in  purely 
intellectual  acts  of  the  mind  ;  it  comes,  not  unnatur- 
ally, to  be  regarded  as  affording  a  point  of  contact,  a 
connecting  link  between  these  two  great  departments 
of  being — between  mind  and  matter — the  one  as  its 
originator,  the  other  as  its  recipient.  The  control 
we  possess  over  the  external  world  we  are  sure  must 
arise  from  a  capacity  somehow  inherent  in  the  in- 
tellectual part  of  our  nature,  to  originate  or  call  into 
action  this  one  and  only  agent  which  matter  obeys 
in  its  changes  of  form  and  situation.  We  may  hesi- 
tate about  admitting  into  the  system  of  created  things 
around  us  so  great  an  amount  of  additional  or  ex- 
traneous vis  viva,  as  the  totality  of  animal  exertion 
since  the  first  introduction  of  animal  life  upon  earth 
would  seem  to  imply.  But  this  is  not  necessary. 
The  actual  force  necessary  to  be  originated  to  give  rise 
to  the  utmost  imaginable  exertion  of  animal  power 
in  any  case,  may  be  no  greater  than  is  required  to 
remove  a  single  material  molecule  from  its  place 
through  a  space  inconceivably  minute — no  more  in 
comparison  with  the  dynamical  force  disengaged, 
directly  or  indirectly,  than  the  pull  of  a  hair  trigger 
in  comparison  with  the  force  of  the  mine  which  it 
explodes.  But  without  the  power  to  make  some 
material  disposition,  to  originate  some  movement,  or 


46  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

to  change,  at  least  temporarily,  the  amount  of  dyna- 
mical force  appropriate  to  some  one  or  more  material 
molecules,  the  mechanical  results  of  human  or  animal 
volition  are  inconceivable.  It  matters  not  that  we 
are  ignorant  of  the  mode  in  which  this  is  performed. 
It  suffices  to  bring  the  origination  of  dynamical 
power,  to  however  small  an  extent,  within  the  domain 
of  acknowledged  personality.  .  .  . 

"  The  universe  presents  us  with  an  assemblage 
of  phenomena,  physical,  vital  and  intellectual — the 
connecting  link  between  the  worlds  of  intellect  and 
matter  being  that  of  organised  vitality,  occupying  the 
whole  domain  of  animal  and  vegetable  life,  through- 
out which,  in  some  way  inscrutable  to  us,  movements, 
among  the  molecules  of  matter  are  originated  of  such 
a  character  as  apparently  to  bring  them  under  the 
control  of  an  agency  other  than  physical,  superseding 
the  ordinary  laws  which  regulate  the  movements  of 
inanimate  matter,  or,  in  other  words,  giving  rise  to 
movements  which  would  not  result  from  the  action  of 
those  laws  uninterfered  with :  and  therefore  implying, 
on  the  very  same  principle,  the  origination  of  force. 
The  first  and  greatest  question  which  Philosophy  has 
had  to  resolve  in  its  attempts  to  make  out  a  Kosmos, 
— to  bring  the  whole  of  the  phenomena  exhibited  in 
these  three  domains  of  existence  under  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  mind  as  a  congruous  whole — is,  whether 
we  can  derive  any  light  from  our  internal  conscious- 
ness of  thought,  reason,  power,  will,  motive,  design — 
or  not :  whether,  that  is  to  say,  nature  is  or  is  not 
more  interpretable  by  supposing  these  things  (be  they 
what  they  may)  to  have  had,  or  to  have,  to  do  with 
its  arrangements.  Constituted  as  the  human  mind 
is,  if  nature  be  not  interpretable  through  these  con- 
ceptions, it  is  not  interpretable  at  all.  ...  Will 
without  Motive,  Power  without  Design,  Thought  op- 
posed to  Reason  would  be  admirable  in  explaining  a 
chaos,  but  would  render  little  aid  in  accounting  for 
anything  else." 

Lamarck  also,  the  founder  of  modern  evolution,  is 
equally  explicit.  In  his  "Anatomy  of  Invertebrates  " 
he  says,  "  Strange  occurrence  !  that  the  watch  should 


CAUSALITY  47 

have  been  confounded  with  its  maker,  the  work 
with  its  author.  Assuredly  this  idea  is  illogical  and 
unfit  to  be  maintained.  The  power  which  has 
created  Nature,  has,  without  doubt,  no  limits,  cannot 
be  restricted  in  its  will  or  be  made  subject  to  others, 
and  is  independent  of  all  law.  It  alone  can  change 
Nature  and  her  laws,  and  even  annihilate  them  ;  and 
although  we  have  no  positive  knowledge  of  this  first 
object,  the  idea  which  we  thus  form  of  the  Almighty 
Power  is  at  least  more  suitable  for  man  to  entertain 
of  the  Divinity,  when  he  can  raise  his  thoughts  to  the 
contemplation  of  him.  If  Nature  were  an  intelli- 
gence, it  would  exercise  volition  and  change  its  laws, 
or  rather  there  could  be  no  law.  Finally,  if  Nature 
were  GOD,  its  will  would  be  independent,  its  acts 
unconstrained  :  but  this  is  not  the  case  ;  it  is,  on  the 
contrary,  continually  subject  to  constant  laws,  over 
which  it  has  no  power  ;  it  hence  follows,  that  although 
its  means  are  infinitely  diversified  and  inexhaustible, 
it  acts  always  in  the  same  manner  in  the  same  cir- 
cumstances,  without  the  power  of  acting  otherwise"." 

And  I  may  cite  the  following  from  the  General 
Scholium  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  immortal  work  on 
optics  : — "  And  the  instinct  of  brutes  and  insects  can 
be  the  effect  of  nothing  else  than  the  wisdom  and  skill 
of  the  powerful,  ever-living  agent,  who,  being  in  all 
places,  is  more  able  by  his  will  to  move  the  bodies 
within  his  boundless,  uniform  sensorium,  and  thereby 
to  form  and  reform  the  part  of  the  universe,  than  we 
are  by  our  will  to  move  the  parts  of  our  bodies." 

And  again,  in  his  "  Principia,"  "  He  is  omni- 
present, not  virtually  alone,  but  substantially.  In  him 
all  things  are  contained  and  moved,  but  without 
mutually  affecting  each  other." 

Indeed  it  would  be  difficult  to  discover  a  really 
first-rate  man  of  science  to  take  the  opposing  view. 
Romanes  suggestively  states  that,  "  when  I  was  at 
Cambridge,  there  was  a  galaxy  of  genius  in  that 
department  emanating  from  that  place  such  as  had 
never  before  been  equalled.  And  the  curious  thing  in 
our  present  connection  is  that  all  the  most  illustrious 
names  were  ranged  on  the  side  of  orthodoxy."  Re- 


48  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

cent  statistics  show  that  in  the  summary  of  the  lead- 
ing American  colleges  and  universities,  religious 
belief  increases  in  its  percentage  from  the  freshman 
year  to  the  end  of  the  course,  so  that  at  graduation 
more  than  fifty  per  centum  are  firm  believers  in  the 
truth  of  religion. 

Surely  we  should  expect  that  that  religion  which 
is  fundamentally  established  on  the  propositions  that 
"  God  is  a  spirit,"  that  God  is  that  Spirit  "  in  whom 
we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being,"  that  "  When- 
ever two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name 
there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them,"  should  bind  itself 
firmly  and  for  all  time  to  the  spiritualistic  views  such 
as  I  have  cited  from  Romanes,  Sir  John  Herschel, 
Lamarck  and  Isaac  Newton,  but  it  has  not  been  so, 
and  Christianity,  especially  among  the  Protestant 
branches,  has  lost  enormously  thereby. 

We  may  even  go  back  to  the  heathen  days  of 
Rome,  and  cite  Cicero's  work  "  On  the  Nature  of  the 
Gods,"  to  show  that  this  division  of  belief  is  even  pre- 
Christian,  for  Cicero  says,  "  There  are  some  philoso- 
phers, both  ancient  and  modern,  who  have  conceived 
that  the  gods  take  not  the  least  cognisance  of  human 
affairs.  But  if  their  doctrines  be  true  of  what  avail 
is  piety,  sanctity,  or  religion  ?  .  .  .  There  are  other 
philosophers,  and  those  too  very  great  and  illustrious 
men,  who  conceive  the  whole  world  to  be  directed 
and  governed  by  the  will  and  wisdom  of  the  gods ; 
nor  do  they  stop  here,  but  conceive  likewise  that  the 
deities  consult  and  provide  for  the  preservation  of 
mankind." 

Who  would  imagine  for  a  moment  that  any 
Christian  could  possibly  use  such  language  as  the 
reporters  of  the  daily  press  have  attributed  to  a  dis- 
tinguished clergyman,  an  evangelist  celebrated  in  two 
continents,  in  one  of  his  recent  sermons  delivered  to 
an  audience  of  thousands  in  Philadelphia  ?  This  is 
what  this  great  theological  leader  is  reported  to  have 
said  :  "It  is  the  common  cant  of  the  day  to  say  that 
Christ  is  here,  not  in  the  flesh,  but  in  the  spirit ;  that 
we  see  his  presence  in  all  the  glories  of  the  Twentieth 
Century.  And  we  are  asked  to  accept  this  invisible 


CAUSALITY  49 

presence  in  place  of  the  Lord  who  has  said  that  he 
himself  will  be  with  us.  Was  ever  such  nonsense  ?  " 
Again,  "  Oh,  it  is  well  for  the  humbugs,  the  frauds,  and 
the  pretenders  who  encumber  the  world  to  tell  us 
that  Christ  is  here,  is  there,  is  everywhere.  But  their 
theory  of  Christ  in  an  obscure  corner,  of  an  inner- 
chamber  Christ,  has  long  been  exploded."  He  said, 
"  Be  warned  in  time  ere  it  is  too  late,  for  when  Jesus 
comes  to  us  it  will  be  without  warning.  It  may  be  a 
year  hence  ;  it  may  be  to-morrow  ;  it  may  be,  for  all 
that  we  poor,  helpless  misguided  creatures  in  our 
ignorance  can  tell,  this  very  day.  .  .  .  As  I,"  the 
speaker  said,  "  a  father,  go  away  from  my  home  to 
return,  so  Christ  went  away  from  the  world  of  his 
children,  to  return." 

Let  us  imagine,  as  a  corollary,  this  vast  congrega- 
tion to  burst  forth  into  the  glorious  strains  of  Lyte's 
great  prayer  and  hymn,  and,  meantime,  watch  the 
evangelist. — 

"  Abide  with  me  :  fast  falls  the  eventide, 

The  darkness  deepens,  Lord,  with  me  abide  : 
When  other  helpers  fail,  and  comforts  flee, 
Help  of  the  helpless,  Lord,  abide  with  me: 

"  I  need  Thy  presence  every  passing  hour  ; 

What  but  Thy  grace  can  foil  the  tempter's  power  ? 
Who,  like  Thyself,  my  guide  and  stay  can  be  ? 
Through  cloud  and  sunshine,  Lord,  abide  with  me. 

"  I  fear  no  foe  with  Thee  at  hand  to  bless  : 

Ills  have  no  weight,  and  tears  no  bitterness. 
Where  is  death's  sting  ?  where,  grave,  thy  victory  ? 
I  triumph  still,  if  Thou  abide  with  me. 

"  Hold  Thou  Thy  cross  before  my  closing  eyes  ; 

Shine  through  the  gloom,  and  point  me  to  the  skies  ; 
Heaven's  morning  breaks,  and  earth's  vain  shadows  flee  ; 
In  life,  in  death,  O  Lord,  abide  with  me." 

The  evangelist's  notion  of  an  absentee  God,  and 
of  course  of  an  absentee  Christ — "  very  God  of  very 
God  " — is  a  distinctly  pagan  conception,  that  is,  the 
materialistic  form  of  paganism  ;  for,  as  Cicero,  him- 
self a  pagan,  asks  of  such  absentee  gods  "  of  what 
avail  then  is  piety,  sanctity,  or  religion  ?  " 

Be  not  distressed  ;  listening,  as  we  often  have 
listened,  to  the  rendering  of  Chopin's  immortal 


50  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

"  Marche  Funebre  "  by  a  full  orchestra,  one  hears  the 
solemn,  complex  rhythm  of  minor  chords,  with  their 
deep,  pulsing  beat,  like  the  march  of  inevitable  Fate 
in  the  Greek  tragedies ;  the  marching  mourners 
swing  from  side  to  side  with  the  crashing  sound  of 
each  step  ;  one  sees  the  black  led-horses  drawing  the 
caisson  which  bears  the  shrouded  coffin,  in  which 
rocks  to  and  fro  the  ghastly  corpse,  as  the  springless 
car  bumps  along  the  streets ;  an  appalling  hush 
rests  upon  all,  and  there  is  heard  and  felt  only  the 
hopeless  march  of  death.  God  and  His  Christ  may  be 
sitting  aloft,  but  they  seem  not  to  be  here,  under  this 
pall.  But  suddenly  there  rises  one  single,  clear, 
continuous  note,  fmtelike,  birdlike,  angelic ;  a  new 
element,  modulating  to  the  major  key  this  time,  has 
entered  the  scene,  and,  as  that  celestial  strain  rises 
and  falls,  and  calls  and  echoes  and  thrills  the  soul, 
hope  and  joy  return,  heaven  is  felt  to  be  here  and  ever 
has  been  here  and  all  around  us,  God  again  is  and  has 
been  with  and  in  us,  and  one  feels  that  living  presence, 
that  guiding  spirit-presence  which  fills  and  clings  to 
and  surrounds  that  cry,  that  prayer  and  hymn  in  one, 
so  humble  in  its  words,  so  inspiring  in  its  trust : 

"  Keep  Thou  my  feet ;  I  do  not  ask  to  see 
The  distant  scene,  one  step  enough  for  me." 

It  is  said  that  Chopin,  the  Edgar  Allan  Poe  of 
music,  through  the  trick  of  some  of  his  friends,  whom 
he  visited  in  the  twilight,  improvised  this  funeral 
march  in  darkness,  at  the  piano,  with  his  arm  clasped 
around  a  skeleton  mock-player  seated  at  his  side,  and 
one  hears  the  shock,  "  Earth  to  earth ;  ashes  to 
ashes  "  ;  one  feels  the  materialistic  throb,  the  march, 
the  coffin,  the  clay.  But  when  the  soul  was  liberated 
and  was  clasped  and  welcomed  by  its  spirit-guardians, 
those  clear,  pure,  limpid,  triumphant  notes  of  joy 
ascended,  and  we  know  that  the  earthly  skeleton  was 
all  forgotten,  and  that  loving  angel  forms,  and  the 
divine  presence,  were  all  around  and  about  us. 

But  so  we  may  be  prepared  to  understand  the 
effects  of  that  nearly  fatal  error  of  Christian 
theology,  by  which,  to  use  the  words  of  Romanes, 


CAUSALITY  51 

"  God  is  still  grudged  His  own  universe,  so  to  speak, 
as  far  and  as  often  as  He  can  possibly  be." 

And  he  adds,  "  I  can  well  understand  why 
infidelity  should  make  the  basal  assumption  in 
question,  because  its  whole  case  must  rest  thereon. 
But  surely  it  is  time  for  theists  to  abandon  this 
assumption." 

Now  what  is  this  basal  false  assumption  or 
fundamental  postulate,  which  Romanes  puts  to  dis- 
prove it,  in  italics  ?  "  //  there  be  a  personal  God,  He  is 
not  immediately  concerned  with  natural  causation" 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE   PSYCHISM  OF  THE  UNIVERSE 

His  demonstration  of  the  falsity  of  this  proposition  is 
as  follows  : — "  I  propose  to  show  that,  provided  only 
we  lay  aside  all  prejudice,  sentiment,  etc.,  and  follow 
to  its  logical  termination  the  guidance  of  pure  reason, 
there  are  no  other  conclusions  to  be  reached  than 
these — viz.  (a)  That  if  there  be  a  personal  God,  no 
reason  can  be  assigned  why  He  should  not  be  im- 
manent in  nature,  or  why  all  causation  should  not  be 
the  immediate  expression  of  His  will.  (6)  That  every 
available  reason  points  to  the  inference  that  He 
probably  is  so.  (c)  That  if  He  is  so,  and  if  His  will 
is  self-consistent,  all  natural  causation  must  needs 
appear  to  us  '  mechanical/  Therefore  (d)  that  it  is 
no  argument  against  the  divine  origin  of  a  thing, 
event,  etc.,  to  prove  it  due  to  natural  causation." 

This  is  in  strict  accord  with  the  trend  of  modern 
psychology.  To  quote  Professor  H.  W.  Conn,  in  his 
"  Story  of  the  Living  Machine,"  "  If  the  physical 
basis  of  life  had  proved  to  be  a  chemical  compound, 
the  problem  of  its  origin  would  have  been  a  chemical 
one.  Chemical  forces  exist  in  nature,  and  these 
forces  are  sufficient  to  explain  the  formation  of  any 
kind  of  chemical  compound.  The  problem  of  the 
origin  of  the  life  substance  would  then  have  been 
simply  to  account  for  certain  conditions  which  re- 
sulted in  such  chemical  combination  as  would  give 
rise  to  this  physical  basis  of  life.  But  now  that  the 
simplest  substance  manifesting  the  phenomena  of  life> 
is  found  to  be  a  machine  [mechanical,  says  Romanes], 
we  can  no  longer  find  in  chemical  forces  efficient  cause 
for  its  formation.  Chemical  forces  and  chemical 
affinity  can  explain  chemical  compounds  of  any  de- 

52 


THE  PSYCHISM  OF  THE  UNIVERSE      53 

gree  of  complexity,  but  they  cannot  explain  the 
formation  of  machines.  Machines  are  the  result  of 
forces  of  an  entirely  different  nature.  Man  can 
manufacture  machines  by  taking  chemical  com- 
pounds and  putting  them  together  into  such  relations 
that  their  interaction  will  give  certain  results.  Bits 
of  iron  and  steel,  for  instance,  are  put  together  to 
form  a  locomotive,  but  the  action  of  the  locomotive 
depends,  not  upon  the  chemical  forces  which  made 
the  steel,  but  upon  the  relation  of  the  bits  of  steel  to 
each  other  in  the  machine.  So  far  as  we  have  had 
any  experience,  machines  have  been  built  under  the 
guidance  of  intelligence  which  adapts  the  parts  to 
each  other." 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  scientific  statement  power- 
fully corroborates  the  evidence  from  reason,  as  given 
by  Romanes,  and  demonstrates  that  what  this  great 
author  predicated  as  the  only  solution,  the  statement 
of  Professor  Conn  (which  is  the  universal  view  of 
modern  psychology)  demonstrates  to  be  true. 

But  this  view,  these  connected  series  of  facts  of 
organic  life,  demonstrate  not  only  the  immanence 
of  a  divine  creative  and  maintaining  intelligence,  but 
they  demonstrate  spiritualism,  and  furnish  an  im- 
mutable basis  for  revelation  and  all  forms  of  religion, 
as  spiritually  revealed. 

Just  as  man,  just  as  all  living  organisms,  by 
whatever  psychic  life  they  may  have  and  manifest, 
are  designers,  creators  and  sustainers,  within  the 
limited  sphere  open  to  their  opportunities,  so  is  the 
Spirit  of  the  Universe,  as  it  were,  as  Romanes  calls 
the  eternal  and  omnipotent  psychism,  the  designer, 
the  creator  and  sustainer  of  the  universe.  This  is 
the  lesson  of  psychology.  All  are  machine-builders, 
intelligent  and  purposeful  machine-builders,  and 
their  psychisms  are  akin,  as  they  must  be,  since  the 
lesser  psychisms  are  the  outcome  of  the  former. 
There  certainly  are  such  individual  psychisms,  such 
minds ;  no  one  denies  that,  and  that  with  our  own 
minds  we  can  explore  higher  minds  is  proof  of  their 
essential  likeness,  "  In  God's  own  image."  And  that 
there  is  a  ceaseless  interchange  between  them  is 


54  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

the    lesson    of    religion,    of    spiritualism,    and    of 
psychology. 

The  Rev.  Dr  Bingham,  of  Trinity  College,  Hart- 
ford, makes  his  Italian  girl  say  :  "  But  are  you  not 
willing  to  believe,  Signor,  that  our  holy  mother,  the 
Church,  cares  for  us,  her  children,  in  this  world  as  well 
as  in  the  next  ?  Are  you  not  willing  to  believe  that 
she  works  before  us  and  upon  us  her  perpetual  miracles 
and  teaches  us  to  see  through  the  thin  veil  and  re- 
cognise much  that  is  going  on  in  the  world  of  spirits  ? 
But,  ah,  Signor,  do  you  Protestants,  so  rich  and  so 
learned,  really  believe  in  any  supernatural  world  at 
all?" 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SPIRITUALISM  THE   BASIS   OF  ALL   RELIGIONS 

NOT  only  was  the  old  Christian  church  spiritualistic 
to  the  backbone  ;  the  same  is  true  of  the  Hebrew 
scriptures  and  faith.  The  whole  Bible,  properly 
read,  and  as  it  was  intended  to  be  read,  is  one  long, 
continuous  and  unmistakable  record  of  spiritualism. 
In  the  light  of  its  true  reading  all  the  "  higher 
criticism/'  so  called,  is  merely  directed  to  the  correc- 
tion of  historical  and  incidental  errors,  matters  of 
detail  as  trifling  as  the  correction  of  like  errors  in  the 
records  of  our  present  mediumistic  trances,  or  other 
manifestations  ;  the  record  proves  its  own  validity 
by  comparison  with  what  is  now  going  on,  and  the 
Bible  itself,  when  simply  stripped  of  its  stucco  and 
artificial  drapery,  will  stand  forth,  clear  in  diction, 
sublime  in  purpose,  and  glorious  in  promise  for  all 
time  to  come,  the  grandest  record  of  authentic 
mediumship  yet  revealed  to  mankind. 

And  all  the  other  great  religions  existent  to-day 
are,  in  like  manner,  entirely  spiritualistic  in  origin 
and  development. 

In  India,  Brahmanism,  Buddhism,  Mohammedan- 
ism and  Parseeism ;  in  China,  these  same  re- 
ligions together  with  Confucianism  and  Taoism ;  in 
Japan,  the  same  with  Shintoism,  and  also  in  Ceylon 
and  Farther  India ;  in  Turkey,  Arabia,  Persia, 
Tartary ;  in  Africa,  among  the  American  Indians 
pre-eminently  and  most  purely,  everywhere,  wherever 
there  is  a  religion  at  all,  we  find  all  the  basic  pheno- 
mena of  modern  spiritualism  represented  and  ac- 
knowledged. 

Among  the  historic  religions  of  the  past  the  same 
is  true  ;  in  ancient  Egypt,  among  those  great  nations 

55 


56  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

which  stretched  from  Egypt  up,  along  the  Medi- 
terranean to  the  Dardanelles,  in  the  various  religions 
of  the  great  Euphrates  valley,  in  those  of  the 
mountains,  the  valleys  and  plateaus  behind  the 
Persian  Gulf,  in  Persia,  in  the  religions  of  Greece, 
Etruria  and  Rome,  among  the  Carthaginians  and 
their  Phoenician  ancestors,  among  the  more  recent 
Druids,  in  all  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  among  the 
Mexicans,  the  Mayas,  the  Peruvians,  the  peoples  of 
the  Amazon,  and  other  prehistoric  peoples  of  every 
age  and  every  country,  among  all  these  was 
spiritualism  fully  recognised,  not  only  as  a  fact,  but 
as  the  most  important  fact  within  the  grasp  of  man. 

The  eminent  anthropologist,  the  late  Dr  Daniel 
G.  Brinton,  in  a  recent  lecture  on  the  "  Religions  of 
Ancient  Peoples,"  said  : 

"  What  one  person  calls  religion  another  calls 
superstition.  No  tribe  devoid  of  religion  is  known  to 
exist.  No  animal,  however  intelligent,  exhibits  any 
idea  of  death  or  exercises  any  religious  sense.  If  any- 
one who  has  any  religious  feeling  is  asked  his  origin 
and  why  he  believes  in  any  religion  there  is  one 
universal  answer  :  it  is  because  he  believes  in  the 
God-given  ;  that  the  very  sentiment  within  him  is 
God-given.  No  religion  exists  that  does  not  depend 
on  a  revelation  believed  by  its  votaries.  This 
principle  belongs  as  much  to  the  most  primitive 
religions  as  to  those  of  highest  development.  Every 
Indian  on  the  plains  and  every  savage  in  South 
American  tribes  has  had  that  sublime  beatific  vision 
which  lifts  him  above  humanity  into  the  realm  of  the 
supernatural." 

The  author  of  "  The  Supernatural  in  Nature,"  a 
religious  work  inscribed  to  the  Lord  Bishop  of  London, 
says  :  "  God  was  prominent  in  the  minds  of  primitive 
men,  they  perceived  a  spirit  in  everything,  mysterious 
ghostliness  in  all  dark  space.  No  tribe  or  people  has 
ever  been  discovered  in  the  whole  course  of  human 
history  that  has  not  a  religion  of  some  kind  or 
other." 

|$tf  Says  Tylor  in  his  "  Primitive  Culture  "  :  "  No 
religion  of  mankind  lies  in  utter  isolation  from  the 


SPIRITUALISM— BASIS  OF  RELIGIONS     57 

rest,  and  the  thoughts  and  principles  of  modern 
Christianity  are  attached  to  intellectual  clues  which 
run  back  through  far  pre-Christian  ages  to  the  very 
origin  of  human  civilisation,  perhaps  even  of  human 
existence."  Again,  "  The  theory  of  the  soul  is  one 
principal  part  of  a  system  of  religious  philosophy 
which  unites  in  an  unbroken  line  of  mental  connection 
the  savage  fetich-worshipper  and  the  civilised 
Christian." 

The  author  of  "  The  Supernatural  in  Nature  " 
says :  "  All  races  have  the  idea  of  the  soul  outliving 
the  body  in  a  country  of  ghosts." 

Epes  Sargent  in  his  "  Proof  Palpable  "  says :  "  All 
times  and  all  tribes  have  had  their  prophets,  seers, 
sensitives,  psychics  or  mediums.  The  inference  is 
that  these  same  powers  are  possessed  in  different 
degrees  by  all  human  beings,  but  that  it  is  only  under 
certain  conditions  of  organisation,  temperament  or 
influence,  that  they  are  developed  as  we  find  them  to 
be  in  particular  instances." 

Sir  Charles  Lyell  in  his  "  Antiquity  of  Man " 
states  that  far  back  in  geological  times  the  human 
remains  found  in  the  prehistoric  cavern  in  Aurignac, 
in  France,  showed  that  the  departing  spirits  were 
fitted  out  with  food  and  implements  for  the  journey, 
just  as  among  the  North  American  Indians  of  the 
present  century.  And  Professor  Paul  Broca,  in 
discussing  the  life  of  the  earliest  man,  as  revealed  in 
their  remains,  says :  "  Did  they  have  any  religious 
belief  ?  "  And  answers  it  by  saying :  "  They  did  wear 
talismans  or  amulets.  Hunting  nations  wear  similar 
talismans  to  give  them  luck  in  hunting.  In  either 
case  there  was  some  superstitious  idea  connected 
with  them.  Does  this  suffice  for  the  statement  that 
they  had  a  religion  ?  " 

The  Rev.  Dr  Charles  Maurice  Davies,  of  the 
English  Church,  in  a  public  address  delivered  in 
1874,  says,  in  speaking  to  the  spiritualists  :  "On  the 
broad  question  of  theology  we  can  conceive  of  no 
single  subject  which  a  clergyman  is  more  bound  to 
examine  than  that  which  purports  to  be  a  new  re- 
velation, or,  at  all  events,  a  large  extension  of  the 


58  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

old ;  and  which,  if  its  claims  be  substantiated,  will 
quite  modify  our  notions  of  what  we  call  faith.  It 
proposes,  in  fact,  to  supply,  in  matters  we  have  been 
accustomed  to  take  on  trust,  something  so  like 
demonstration,  that  I  feel  not  only  at  liberty,  but 
actually  bound,  whether  I  like  it  or  not,  to  look  into 
the  thing.  While  I  recognise  that  my  own  duty 
clearly  is  to  examine  the  principles  you  profess,  I 
find  this  to  be  eminently  their  characteristic,  that 
they  readily  assimilate  with  those  of  my  own  church. 
I  see  nothing  revolutionary  in  them.  You  have  no 
propaganda.  You  do  not  call  upon  me,  as  far  as  I 
understand,  to  come  out  of  the  body  I  belong  to  and 
join  yours,  as  so  many  other  bodies  do  ;  but  you  ask 
me  simply  to  take  your  doctrines  with  my  own  creed, 
and  vitalise  it  by  their  means.  This  has  always 
attracted  me  powerfully  towards  you.  You  are  the 
broadest  Churchmen  I  find  anywhere." 

In  1896  the  Rev.  Dr  Ellinwood,  the  Secretary  of 
the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  an  eminent  writer  and 
theologian,  author  of  "  Oriental  Religions  and 
Christianity,"  writes  as  follows  : — 

"  Hypnotism,  making  due  allowances  for  a 
thousand  extravagances  which  have  attended  it, 
does  seem  to  show  that  one  strong  and  magnetic 
human  will  may  so  control  the  mind  and  will  of  its 
subject  as  by  a  mere  silent  volition  to  direct  his  words 
and  acts.  Who  shall  say  then  that  a  disembodied 
spirit  may  not  do  the  same  ?  " 

"  Professor  Shaler  of  Harvard,"  he  says,  "in  his 
'  Interpretation  of  Nature  '  has  pointed  out  the  fact 
of  a  strong  reaction  against  the  materialism  which 
seemed  confident  of  dominion  a  few  years  ago. 
Certain  biological  investigators,  flushed  with  the 
success  of  their  researches,  were  very  confident  that, 
if  they  had  not  been  able  to  discover  the  human  soul 
with  the  microscope,  they  had  at  least  identified 
it  very  closely  with  the  substance  of  the  brain  and 
nerves.  But  now,  as  the  professor  shows,  science  is 
beginning  to  discover  realms  of  spirit  lying  beyond 
the  physical,  and  of  which  we  have  as  yet  but  the 


SPIRITUALISM— BASIS  OF  RELIGIONS     59 

barest  glimpses  of  knowledge.  Evidently  human 
research  has  not  yet  finished  its  work  and  is  not 
ready  to  rest  its  case  upon  any  dogmatic  verdict." 

Says  Professor  William  James,  Professor  of 
Philosophy  in  Harvard  University :  "  The  phenomena 
are  among  the  most  constant  in  history,  and  it  is 
most  extraordinary  that  '  science '  should  ever  have 
become  blind  to  them." 

The  whole  history  of  the  race  demonstrates  by 
an  accumulation  of  evidence  perfectly  irresistible  to 
those  who  care  for  evidence,  that  the  psychical,  the 
spiritual,  both  in  the  man,  and  extra  to  the  man, 
have  been  the  great  interacting  and  controlling 
factors  of  human  advancement. 

And  these  conceded  factors,  constituting  the  uni- 
versal consensus  of  all  mankind,  through  all  the  ages 
of  mankind,  have  been  absolutely  identical,  and  are 
to-day  precisely  what  they  have  always  been  hitherto, 
and  everywhere,  in  the  past.  These  fundamental 
propositions,  apparently  inherent  in,  or  else  revealed 
to  the  human  race,  and  universally  employed  as  the 
only  basis  of  ethics  as  well  as  of  religion,  and  as  well 
of  spiritualism,  are  as  follows  : — 

1.  A  transcendental,  spiritual,  intelligent  power, 
universal  in  scope,  in  space  and  time,  and  in  potency, 
which   power  is  the   formative,   preservative    and 
restorative  agency  of  nature. 

2.  Direct  and  recognised  action  of  this  power  upon 
and  through  a  similar,  but  less  extensive,  spirituality 
of  man,  to  mould,  to  control,  and  to  preserve  and 
protect  the  human  organism,  and  its  energies. 

3.  The  persistence  of  this  spiritual  individuality 
of  man  after  death. 

4.  Intercommunion  between  the  human  spiritual 
personality  and  the  like  spiritualities  of  departed 
human  beings,  under  various  conditions,  at  particular 
times,  and  for  special  purposes. 

This  superhuman  consciousness,  which  constitutes 
the  basis  of  all  religion,  ever  present  and  ever  acting, 
is  the  same  consciousness  which  constitutes  the  basis 
of  modern  spiritualism  ;  there  is  no  difference  in  kind 
at  all,  and  only  slight  differences  in  degree  ;  and  these 


60  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

differences  constantly  and  imperceptibly  shade  into 
each  other,  so  that  no  line  of  demarcation  can  any- 
where be  drawn  between  modern  spiritualism  and  the 
universal  psychical  or  religious  knowledge  of  all  past 
ages  and  all  peoples. 

In  all  history  the  fact  stands  out  undisputed  that 
the  great  principles  of  modern  spiritualism  have 
never  been  denied  among  mankind,  save  by  a  few 
modern  teachers  whose  inquiries  have  been  purposely 
confined,  by  deliberate  choice  or  narrowness  of  vision, 
to  the  gross  material  plane  alone,  and  a  multitude  of 
their  ignorant  followers,  who,  in  believing  that  they 
have  accepted  the  hypotheses  of  these  philosophers, 
have,  in  fact,  garbled  them  beyond  recognition. 
Besides  these,  the  boasted  doctrine  of  negation,  or 
agnosticism,  has  only  included  the  lower  animals, 
and  not,  it  is  probable,  even  all  classes  of  these. 

Modern  spiritualism  is  thus  not  a  new  thing — its 
denial  is  the  new  thing,  and  it  ought  not  logically  to 
stand  at  the  bar  of  science  to  establish  its  facts  ;  they 
have  been  already  established,  for  it  has  more  and 
more  been  proven,  and  is  now  firmly  established, 
that  no  belief  universal  in  scope  and  in  time  has  ever 
been  without  a  foundation  of  truth  for  its  basis.  It 
is  upon  and  by  means  of  these  very  truths  that  science 
itself  has  been  established  and  developed. 

But  spiritualism  gladly  accepts  the  challenge,  for 
it  clearly  recognises  that  only  in  the  continuance  and 
multiplicity  of  obvious  spiritual  phenomena  can  the 
truth  of  a  future  life  be  made  universally  manifest. 
The  fountain  must  continue  to  flow  in  order  to  prove 
that  it  has  ever  flowed,  for  the  forces  and  mechanism 
are,  and  must  be,  the  same  "  yesterday,  to-day  and 
for  ever." 


CHAPTER   IX 

SPIRITUALISM   BEFORE  THE   BAR  OF  SCIENCE 

BUT  when  called  to  the  bar  of  science,  spiritualism 
has  the  same  rights  which  science  claims  for  itself, 
and  if  the  object  of  the  research  is  to  be  truth  alone, 
the  conditions  required  for  successful  experimenta- 
tion must  be  observed.  Who  would  expose  a 
sensitised  photographic  plate  in  broad  daylight,  and 
expect  anything  but  a  blackened  negative  ?  Who, 
in  investigating  the  development  of  language  in  a 
child,  would  attack  it  with  threats  and  visible 
hostility  ?  A  pure  young  girl,  brought  before  a  court 
of  ribald  and  sceptical  accusers,  to  defend  her  virtue, 
would  find  her  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  her  mouth, 
and  her  very  actions  would  proclaim  her  guilt  and 
condemn  her,  and  her  judges  would  glory  in  the 
triumph  of  her  condemnation.  There  are  experi- 
ments in  chemical  research  so  delicate  that  they  must 
be  conducted  in  darkness  and  silence  ;  there  are 
explosives  of  tremendous  energy  which  the  rustle  of  a 
sheet  of  paper  will  detonate,  and,  in  the  production  of 
which,  the  slightest  variation  in  manipulation  during 
their  manufacture  will  render  their  production 
impossible,  or  else  destructive.  The  delicate  observa- 
tions in  astronomical  work  are  vitiated  by  a  breath  of 
warm  air  passing  near  the  instrument ;  in  microscopy 
the  highest  powers  require  to  have  the  lens  immersed 
in  fluid  to  prevent  dispersion  ;  in  the  study  of  the 
ana-tomy  of  such  relatively  developed  organs  as  the 
ultimate  visible  nerves  even,  a  whole  lifetime  must  be 
devoted  to  the  production  of  a  few  partially  com- 
pleted specimens.  Even  in  the  spinning  and  weaving 
of  delicate  threads  and  fabrics,  unless  the  temperature 
and  humidity  be  constantly  maintained  of  exactly  the 

61 


62  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

requisite  quality,  the  whole  product  will  go  to  pieces 
and  the  manufacture  will  be  a  failure.  The  same  is 
true  of  delicate  metallurgical  manipulations — the 
conditions  must  be  most  carefully  studied,,  and  their 
demands  must  be  fully  accepted  and  rigidly  complied 
with,  failure,  even  then,  following  as  frequently  as 
success,  in  many  cases. 

But  in  investigating  spiritualism,  every  condition 
prescribed,  not  by  the  medium  or  by  the  spirits 
perhaps,  but  by  those  forces  which  are  about  to  be 
investigated,  is  looked  upon  as  an  evidence  of  fraud. 
Scientific  men  have  demanded  the  right  to  prescribe 
their  own  conditions  in  an  investigation  of  which  they 
do  not  claim  to  know  even  the  first  principles. 

But  they  do  not  stop  to  consider  that  these 
contacts,  and  transmissions,  and  phenomena,  are 
between  intelligent  individualities,  through  exceed- 
ingly imperfect  instrumentalities  at  best,  and  that  the 
possibilities  of  communication  depend  on  a  multitude 
of  conditions  largely  unknown  to  us,  and  almost 
entirely  unknown  to  and,  untried  by  the  communi- 
cating intelligences  themselves.  "  Scientific  "  in- 
vestigators of  this  sort  have  a  totally  unwarranted 
superstition,  as  a  rule,  which  can  only  be  ascribed  to  a 
survival  from  the  "  ages  of  faith,"  and  which  is  that  a 
disembodied  spirit,  if  there  be  such  a  thing,  as  soon  as 
it  has  left  its  earthly  tenement,  becomes  a  sort  of 
little  god  ;  that  it  instantly  changes  into  an  extremely 
intelligent,  extremely  powerful,  and  practically 
omniscient  and  omnipresent  being,  and  that,  not- 
withstanding all  this,  it  can  still  be  summoned  and 
ordered  about  at  will,  not  like  the  genii  of  the  East, 
by  means  of  a  talisman  whose  power  they  recognise 
and  obey,  but  at  the  will  of  a  sceptic,  whose  authority 
they  do  not  recognise,  and  whose  conditions  they  do 
not  and  cannot,  by  their  very  nature,  accept,  and 
whose  attributed  powers  they  do  not  claim  to  possess. 

Who  are  the  people  to  be  benefited  by  these 
manifestations,  granting  that  they  are  genuine  ?  Is 
it  those  who  have  lived  their  life  on  earth,  and  gone"on 
to  new  duties  and  new  progressions,  or  those  to  whom 
they  return  under  untold  difficulties  to  deliver  a 


SPIRITUALISM   AND   SCIENCE  63 

message  which  will  convince  a  doubting  world,  left 
behind  for  ever,  of  their  continued  existence,  and  so 
make  life  for  us  here  nobler  and  better  and  higher  ? 
They  do  not  need  us  at  all — that  is  certain,  for  we 
know  that  when  we  shall  have  passed  beyond,  if 
future  life  exists,  our  thoughts  and  hopes  and  advance- 
ment will  be  no  longer  chained  to  a  mortal  world. 
Everybody  who  considers  or  believes  in  a  future  life 
at  all  believes  this.  And  in  such  case,  if  there  be  a 
call  at  all,  it  can  only  be  the  call  of  pure  benevolence, 
or  else  the  dark  shadow  of  earth-bound  crime  or 
sorrow,  which  brings  or  binds  the  spirit  here  ;  and  to 
lay  down  rules  and  conditions  without  thought, 
knowledge  or  consideration  ;  to  "  demand  results  " 
under  penalty  of  condemnation  as  frauds  ;  to  put 
them  under  a  cold,  merciless  questioning  in  which 
every  higher  aspect  is  ridiculed,  and  a  catch-examina- 
tion carried  on  for  exposure — this  is  the  same  as  for 
a  drowning  man  to  spit  in  the  face  of  one  who  would 
come  to  his  rescue.  It  is  of  these  that  Christ  said 
they  would  not  be  persuaded,  "  though  one  rose  from 
the  dead." 

Imagine  the  actors  who  would  be  willing  to  act 
gratuitously  before  an  audience  of  scoffers  and 
hooters.  It  is  said  in  the  New  Testament  that  even 
Jesus  was  unable  to  produce  any  considerable 
manifestations  among  the  people  of  Nazareth, 
"  because  of  their  unbelief  "  (Matthew  xiii.  58 ;  Mark 

vi.  5). 

Spiritualists  do  not  claim  that  the  surviving 
personalities  which  manifest  themselves  are  "  little 
gods  "  at  all ;  they  are,  many  times,  chattering  old 
women,  or  babbling  curates,  as  Huxley  describes 
them.  The  question  is  not  whether  they  have 
suddenly  become  sublimated  into  celestial  paragons 
by  merely  escaping  from  a  putrefying  and  disintegrat- 
ing garment  of  flesh,  but  whether  they  escape  at  all. 
What  these  chatterers  and  twaddlers,  when  they  are 
chatterers  and  twaddlers,  seek  to  do  is  to  convey  to 
us  the  actual  certainty  of  what  religion  asks  us  to 
accept  in  many  cases  by  mere  faith,  as  faith  is  often 
understood.  The  general  of  an  army  in  a  difficult 


64  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

and  unknown  country,  with  the  unseen  enemy  hidden 
in  front,  does  not  ask  that  the  poor  ignorant  slave, 
the  loyal  peasant,  or  the  devoted  partisan  shall  come 
in  from  beyond  the  front,  and  stand  up  and  speak  in 
terms  of  educated  style  or  scientific  accuracy.  What 
the  general  wants  to  know  is  where  this  messenger 
comes  from,  what  he  has  seen,  how  he  has  escaped, 
and  information  about  the  country  and  the  people 
beyond.  And  to  secure  this,  so  as  to  produce  con- 
viction of  the  truth  of  the  statements,  he  does  not 
rely  upon  a  single  incomer,  or  messenger ;  but  he 
picks  up  dozens,  if  he  can,  of  all  sorts  and  conditions, 
persons  who  are  most  unlikely  to  have  been  together 
previously,  or  who  could  have  conspired  to  get  up  a 
story  to  deceive.  Here  is  where  good  judgment  and 
sound  reason  come  in,  and  here  is  where  the  com- 
mander proves  his  right  to  command,  and  by  this 
test  his  fitness  is  determined,  and  the  campaign 
carried  on  to  success.  There  is  no  other  way. 

Consider  the  opposite  case.  Suppose  the  com- 
mander should  say,  "  The  personal  scouts  I  have  sent 
over  have  not  returned ;  I  do  not  know  what  is 
beyond ;  those  who  purport  to  come  into  our  lines 
from  over  there  are  ignorant  and  uncultured,  and 
though  I  can  readily  understand  them,  and  they 
come  from  all  parts  of  the  country  beyond,  and  all 
report  the  same  state  of  affairs,  yet  I  take  no  interest 
in  what  they  say,  even  if  the  facts  are  true,  and,  in 
fact,  I  don't  believe,  on  a  priori  principles,  that  there 
is  any  other  force  over  there  anyway  "  ;  and,  instead 
of  investigating,  should  go  back  to  the  rear  with  his 
staff,  to  deliver  a  lecture  on  protoplasm  as  the 
physical  basis  of  life,  at  an  honorarium  of  three 
hundred  dollars. 

An  amusing  instance  came  to  me  recently  of  this 
twaddle  business — an  apparently  educated  man 
narrating  his  experience  with  a  medium.  He  said 
that  he  intended  to  apply  a  test  which  would  satisfy 
him,  and  so  he  wrote  a  name  and  a  question  on  one 
piece  of  paper,  and  another  name  and  another 
question  on  a  second  piece  of  paper,  both  the  names 
being  of  persons  now  dead  but  whom  he  had  known 


SPIRITUALISM  AND  SCIENCE          65 

here.  These  papers  he  concealed  in  his  pocket.  The 
medium  called  out  one  name  and  the  corresponding 
question,  and,  as  the  narrator  stated,  the  question 
was  correctly  answered — because  it  was  an  easy  one, 
he  said. 

The  medium  then  said,  "  You  have  another  name 
and  question  on  another  piece  of  paper,  and  the  spirit 
whose  name  is  thereon  written  says  you  ask,  '  What 
is  electricity  ? ' 

The  narrator  said  to  me,  "  I  put  that  on  as  a 
certain  test,  because  if  she  was  a  spirit  she  would 
certainly  know,  and  if  she  didn't  answer  correctly  I 
would  know  that  the  medium  was  a  fraud,  and  the 
spirit  bogus."  "  Well,"  I  asked,  "  what  answer  did 
you  get  ?  " 

The  answer,  he  said,  was  that  in  his  present 
state  of  knowledge  she  could  not  convey  to  him  an 
explanation  which  would  satisfy  him,  but  that  if  he 
was  there  as  she  was,  he  would  know  and  feel  the 
nature  of  the  answer. 

'  Well  ?  "  I  said.  "  Why,  that  was  all  tommy- 
rot,"  he  replied,  "  and  convinced  me  that  the  whole 
affair  was  bogus." 

I  asked  him  if  he  knew  what  electricity  was,  and 
he  said  no,  that  that  was  what  he  wanted  to  find  out. 
I  asked  him  if  the  friend  (a  girl),  who  professed  to 
answer,  knew  what  it  was  before  her  death.  "  No, 
certainly  not,"  he  replied.  Then  I  asked  him  why  he 
expected  her  to  know  as  soon  as  she  passed  over  into 
spirit  life,  and  his  reply  was,  "  Why,  if  she  was  a 
spirit,  she  would  know  everything,  of  course." 

Mrs  Ross  Church,  who  assisted  Sir  William 
Crookes  in  many  of  his  Katie  King  investigations,  in 
her  wonderful  book,  "  There  is  no  Death,"  says  : 
'  There  are  two  classes  of  people  who  have  done  more 
harm  to  the  cause  of  spiritualism  than  the  testimony 
of  all  the  scientists  has  done  good,  and  those  are  the 
enthusiasts  and  the  sceptics.  The  first  believe 
everything  they  see  or  hear.  Without  giving  them- 
selves the  trouble  to  obtain  proofs  of  genuineness  of 
the  manifestations,  they  rush  impetuously  from  one 
acquaintance  to  the  other,  detailing  their  experiences 


66  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

with  so  much  exaggeration  and  such  unbounded 
faith  that  they  make  the  absurdity  of  it  patent  to  all. 
They  are  generally  people  of  low  intellect,  credulous 
dispositions,  and  weak  nerves.  They  bow  down 
before  the  influences  as  if  they  were  so  many  little 
gods  descended  from  heaven,  instead  of  being,  as  in 
the  majority  of  instances,  spirits  a  shade  less  holy 
than  our  own,  who,  for  their  very  shortcomings,  are 
unable  to  rise  above  the  atmosphere  that  surrounds 
this  gross  and  material  world. 

"  Who  has  not  sat  at  a  stance  where  such  people 
have  made  themselves  so  ridiculous  as  to  bring  the 
cause  they  profess  to  adore  into  contempt  and 
ignominy  ?  Yet  to  allow  the  words  and  deeds  of 
fools  to  affect  one's  inward  and  private  conviction 
of  a  matter  would  be  tantamount  to  giving  up  the 
pursuit  of  everything  in  which  one's  fellow-creatures 
can  take  a  part. 

"  The  second  class  to  which  I  have  alluded — the 
sceptics — have  not  done  so  much  harm  to  spiritualism 
as  the  enthusiasts,  because  they  are,  as  a  rule,  so 
intensely  bigoted  and  hard-headed  and  narrow- 
minded,  that  they  overdo  their  protestations,  and 
render  them  harmless.  The  sceptic  refuses  to  believe 
anything,  because  he  has  found  out  one  thing  to  be  a 
fraud.  If  one  medium  deceives,  all  the  mediums 
must  deceive.  If  one  seance  is  a  failure,  none  can 
be  successful.  If  he  gains  no  satisfactory  test  of  the 
presence  of  spirits  of  the  departed,  no  one  has  ever 
gained  such  a  test.  Now,  such  reason  is  neither  just 
nor  logical.  Again,  a  sceptic  fully  expects  his 
testimony  to  be  accepted  and  believed,  yet  he  will 
never  believe  any  truth  on  the  testimony  of  another 
person.  And  if  he  is  told  that,  given  certain  condi- 
tions, he  can  see  this  or  hear  the  other,  he  says, '  No  ! 
I  will  see  it  and  hear  it  without  any  conditions,  or  else 
I  will  proclaim  it  to  all  a  fraud.'  In  like  manner,  we 
might  say  to  a  savage,  on  showing  him  a  watch, 
'  If  you  will  keep  your  eye  on  those  hands,  you 
will  see  them  move  round  to  tell  the  hours  and 
minutes/  and  he  should  reply,  '  I  must  put  the 
watch  into  boiling  water — those  are  my  conditions 


SPIRITUALISM  AND  SCIENCE  67 

— and  if  it  won't  go  there,  I  will  not  believe  it  will 
go  at  all.' 

"  I  don't  mind  a  sceptic  myself,  as  I  said  before, 
but  he  must  be  unbiassed,  which  few  sceptics  are. 
As  a  rule,  they  have  decided  the  question  at  issue 
for  themselves  before  they  commence  to  investigate 
it." 


CHAPTER   X 

EXPERIMENTAL  PSYCHOLOGY 

I  HAVE  spoken  in  a  previous  chapter  of  the  identity  of 
spiritualistic  manifestations  with  those  embodied  in 
the  records  of  various  historic  religions.  Almost  all 
ethnologists,  anthropologists  and  students  of  com- 
parative religion  and  folklore  are  fully  aware  of  the 
remarkable  identity  between  the  various  spiritualistic 
phenomena  encountered  in  diverse  ages,  and  through- 
out the  world.  In  fact,  wherever  tapped,  we  find  the 
human  strata  flow  with  the  same  phenomena  and  the 
same  beliefs,  in  their  origin  and  mode  of  operation. 

But  I  may  mention  here,  more  as  a  specific 
illustration  than  as  a  corroboration,  the  state  of 
spiritualism  in  the  oldest  as  well  as  the  vastest 
empire  on  earth,  the  Chinese.  I  would  refer  to  an 
unimpeachable  source  also,  as  the  whole  evidence  is 
from  Christian  experts,  experts  not  only  in  our  own 
religion  but  in  the  life,  language  and  customs  of  the 
Chinese  themselves.  Much  of  this  can  be  found  in 
the  remarkable  book  by  the  Rev.  Dr  John  L.  Nevius, 
for  forty  years  a  missionary  in  the  interior  of  China, 
entitled  "  Demon  Possession  and  Allied  Themes, 
principally  in  China,"  and  the  introduction  to  which 
work  was  written  by  the  Rev.  Dr  Ellinwood,  Secretary 
of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  The  work  was  published  in 
1894.  We  must  discount  the  "  Demon "  element' 
in  the  title,  as  that  is  a  concession  to  the  theological, 
but  not  psychological,  differentiation  predicated 
between  these  phenomena  and  those  of  our  Bible, 
and  other  bibles  of  other  peoples.  Dr  Nevius,  who 
was  a  very  eminent  Chinese  scholar,  did  not  rely  upon 
his  own  observations  alone,  but,  as  he  states,  he  sent 

68 


EXPERIMENTAL  PSYCHOLOGY    69 

out  a  circular  of  inquiry,  and  "  in  answer  to  this 
circular  communications  were  received  from  all  parts 
of  China,"  from  missionaries  and  native  Christians 
exclusively. 

In  a  little  list  of  the  phenomena  encountered, 
and  which  were  almost  universal,  I  find  clairvoyance, 
planchette,  singing  in  unknown  languages,  polter- 
geists, double  consciousness,  spirit  journeys,  table- 
turning,  levitation,  prophecy,  possession,  mediumship, 
speaking  spirits,  writing  spirits,  materialisation,  and 
all  the  other  phenomena  of  modern  spiritualism. 

How  did  this  identity  occur,  if  it  had  no  basis  in 
fact  ?  Certainly  the  Chinese  did  not  get  it  from  us, 
for  we  find  all  this  in  Chinese  annals  dating  back  from 
two  thousand  to  three  thousand  years,  and  even  more. 
If  we  got  all  this  from  the  Chinese,  by  what  route  did  it 
come,  and  when,  for  we  find  it  in  all  the  bibles  of  all  the 
races,  and  among  all  the  peoples,  thousands  of  years 
ago  ?  We  find  it  in  prehistoric  America.  Whether 
Mongolian,  Caucasian,  Negro,  Malay,  Red  Indian  or 
Mexican,  Maya  or  Peruvian  or  Carib,  it  is  all  the 
same.  Now  account,  if  you  can,  for  these  facts, 
if  it  is  a  fraud,  a  race  delusion,  or  a  mere  gross 
superstition. 

It  is  not  all  necessary  that  investigations  of  these 
phenomena  should  be  deemed  unscientific  or  in- 
accurate, because  entered  upon  and  carried  through 
with  minds  absolutely  without  prejudice  in  any 
direction  whatever.  This  is,  indeed,  the  only 
attitude  of  genuine  science.  The  researches  of 
Kepler  and  Newton  and  of  ah1  the  great  lights  of 
science  were  of  this  character.  In  fact,  aggressive 
scepticism  is  absolutely  fatal  to  any  sort  of  scientific 
progress.  It  warps  everything  it  touches,  and 
vitiates  every  result  obtained.  It  is  no  more  defen- 
sible or  tolerable  than  the  simple  and  unquestioning 
faith  of  those  who  accept  everything  that  turns 
up  at  a  seance.  The  safe  rule  is  that  of  St  John,  to 
'  Try  the  spirits,"  but  not  to  condemn  them  first 
and  try  them  afterwards,  or  not  at  all.  A  careful, 
honest,  unprejudiced  and  continued  series  of  experi- 
ments will  convince  almost  anyone,  even  if  conducted 


70  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

among  a  few  personal  friends  only,  that  there  is 
absolute  truth  in  these  manifestations,  be  their 
sources  what  they  may,  and  that  they  are  extra- 
human  in  character,  and  are,  at  all  events,  entirely 
compatible  with  the  universal  belief,  which  has  always 
prevailed,  as  to  the  validity  and  character  of  the 
phenomena.  Startling  effects  need  not  be  expected, 
but  they  are  unnecessary,  for  the  slightest  results 
are  of  just  as  much  importance  to  the  scientific 
investigator  as  those  of  the  most  astounding  char- 
acter. And  even  these  latter  will  sometimes  occur 
most  unexpectedly.  But  a  single  experiment  is 
totally  worthless.  Pat,  on  being  told  that  feathers  in 
a  pillow  were  nice  to  lie  on,  took  a  feather  and  laid 
it  on  a  rock,  and  socked  his  head  down  on  it — 
"  Howly  blazes/'  he  ejaculated,  "  if  one  of  thim  is  as 
hard  as  that,  what  wrould  a  whole  pilly-full  be  like  ?  " 

No  one  need  expect  to  learn  anything  practically 
about  spiritual  phenomena  who  is  not  willing  to  give 
time,  patience  and  continued  labour,  and  incur  some 
expense  besides.  The  same  is  true  of  chemistry, 
geology,  or  even  of  work  in  a  machine  shop.  There  is 
a  whole  literature  to  be  studied  ;  there  are  materials 
to  be  procured  ;  there  are  mediums  to  be  consulted 
and  often  rejected  after  many  consultations  ;  there 
are  times  and  conditions  to  be  observed ;  there 
must  be  thought,  study,  comparison  and  investigation. 

One  must  go  through  this  education,  just  as 
education  of  every  other  sort  must  be  acquired.  But 
as  a  chemist  after  long  study  and  practice  becomes 
recognised  as  an  authority  in  chemistry,  so  the  same 
is  true  of  a  mathematician,  a  geologist,  an  astronomer, 
an  anatomist,  or  a  student  of  any  branch  of  science 
or  knowledge  ;  but  it  is  far  different  in  the  science 
of  spiritualism.  Here  among  so-called  men  of  science ' 
the  very  opposite  opinion  prevails  ;  not  only  do  they 
refuse  to  investigate  themselves,  but  they  consider 
that  those  who  have  investigated  longest  and  most 
carefully  know  least  about  it,  and  are  not  only  arrant 
frauds,  but  arrant  fools  as  well. 

There  is  an  Arabic  proverb  which  says,  "  Ask 
advice  of  the  traveller,  not  of  the  learned  "  ;  but  in 


EXPERIMENTAL  PSYCHOLOGY    71 

these  cases  the  rule  is  to  turn  the  traveller  out  of 
court,  to  deny  him  a  hearing,  to  pour  contempt  and 
obloquy  upon  him,  and  then  sit  down  in  a  comfortable 
library,  after  a  good  dinner,  and  prove  that  what 
they  thought  he  meant  to  say  was  all  a  pack  of  lies, 
and  that,  irrespective  of  his  credibility  or  experience 
as  a  witness,  on  the  broad  ground  of  immaculate, 
heaven-sent  and  infallible  a  priori,  not  the  genuine 
a  priori  however,  but  their  own  little,  vain,  ignorant, 
and   perpetually   exploded   a  priori.    That   is   the 
thimble-rig  by  which  the  ball  can  be  put  under  any 
cup  by  these  ingenious  and  self-satisfied  charlatans. 
How  any  branch  of  knowledge  could  be  success- 
fully pursued  under  such  conditions  it  is  impossible 
to  understand.     But  it  is  by  no  means  necessary,  for 
it  is  well  known  that  the  world  of  science  has  always 
advanced  by  impacts  from  without,   and  not  by 
movements  from  within.     Whenever  the  aggregated 
movements  reach  a  certain  momentum,  and  produce 
a  certain  outside  pressure,  the  world  of  science,  like 
an  amoeba,  takes  them  into  its  body,  and  adjusts 
itself  to  a  new  centre  of  gravity,  and  then  rests  as 
a  whole  again,  while  the  processes  of  deglutition, 
digestion,  assimilation  and  nutrition  proceed  within. 
When  another  great  series  of  facts  presses  upon  it 
with  sufficient  force,  the  process  is  repeated,  and  it  is 
thus  that  science  has  grown.    This  conservatism  is 
often  of  value,  but  that  the  process  described  has 
been  the  actual  one  pursued,  anyone  can  readily 
demonstrate  by  considering  that  all  the  facts  of  all 
the    natural   sciences   were    discovered    and   incor- 
porated successively,  and  that,  in  any  science,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  go  back  a  few  years  to  find  a  totally 
different  set  of  facts,  a  totally  different  set  of  deduc- 
tions, and  totally  different  hypotheses  and  theories. 
The  same  will  be  true  in  the  future,  and  that  science 
only  deserves  the  name  which  is  ever  and  willingly 
shifting  its  ground,   and  thereby   ever   advancing. 
There  is  no  advance  in  what  stands  still ;  there  is  no 
discovery  in  the  fear  of  what  may  be  discovered  ; 
and  there  is  no  truth  in  concealment  to  save  a 
theory.    There  is  rascality  there. 


72  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

One  of  the  most  inexplicable  things  in  the  whole 
history  of  human  knowledge  has  been  the  attitude 
which  modern  science  in  general,  and  especially 
through  many  of  its  recognised  leaders,  has  taken 
with  reference  to  the  question  of  extra-human  con- 
sciousness. It  is  not  that  it  was  a  new  question 
sprung  upon  it — the  question  was  as  old  as  mankind, 
and  was  always  proven  and  accepted  as  proven  by 
mankind  in  general ;  it  was  not  that  it  was  unim- 
portant, because  it  is  concededly  of  transcendent 
importance.  If  human  consciousness  itself  is  the 
highest  of  all  human  things,  then  its  origin,  develop- 
ment and  extension  are  of  its  very  essence.  The 
fundamental  difficulty,  in  reality,  was  not  that 
consciousness  should  survive  after  the  transition 
called  death,  or  that  it  should  be  an  extension  or 
focalisation  or  development  of  an  extra-human  out- 
lying consciousness  ;  these  were  not  the  primary 
difficulties,  but  the  fact  that  consciousness  should 
exist  at  all.  It  was  only  by  an  unscientific  familiarity 
with  this  fact  that  its  recognition  as  a  fact  was  not 
accorded  its  stupendous  importance  ;  for  the  thing 
itself,  if  conceded,  takes  away  in  the  concession  nearly 
the  entire  difficulty  in  recognising  or  demonstrating 
other  forms  or  survivals  of  consciousness.  If  men 
can  be  known  to  live  at  all  in  Europe,  it  is  not  much 
more  difficult  to  accept  the  demonstration  that  men 
also  live  in  Asia  or  America,  or  that  the  men  of  one 
country  have  been  derived  from  sources  in  other 
countries,  by  immigration  or  accident. 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE  BAN  OF  a  priori 

IT  is  an  astounding  thing  that  men  of  science,  instead 
of  studying  the  forms  of  consciousness  in  general, 
with  the  same  care  and  labour  which  they  have  be- 
stowed upon  types  of  paleontology  and  their  con- 
nections, and  without  bias  or  prejudice,  should 
abandon  all  this  field  at  hand,  and  go  back  for  a 
basis  to  a  hypothetical  quality  called  "  irritability," 
which  was  then  compared  with  physiological  bile 
secretion  or  the  "  aquosity  "  of  water,  and  endeavour 
to  thus  painfully  trace,  with  futile  results,  the  long 
line  of  consciousness  up  to  a  Shakespeare.  And,  in 
the  face  of  all  this,  Professor  Tyndall  was  still  honest 
enough  to  declare  that  between  matter  and  mind 
there  existed  an  intellectually  impassable  chasm  ; 
Huxley  declined  to  accept  the  title  of  a  materialist, 
and  yet  many  leaders  of  these  classes  of  physicists 
left  the  whole  realm  of  living  nature  at  their  feet  and 
all  around  them,  to  burrow  in  soil  replete  with  death, 
and  not  with  life. 

Dean  Swift,  in  his  celebrated  tale  of  Gulliver,  had 
his  mythical  hero  discover  a  place  where  the 
philosophers  and  men  of  science  spent  their  whole 
lives  amid  filth  and  nastiness,  in  endeavouring 
to  extract  the  already  expended  sunshine  from 
cucumbers,  or  restore  human  offal  to  its  food  state 
again,  and  we  must  indeed  go  to  such  sources  to  find 
an  analogue.  Huxley  himself,  in  his  answer  to  '  Mr 
Gladstone  and  Genesis,"  defined  science,  in  his  lucid 
style,  as  follows  : — 

'  To  my  mind,  whatever  doctrine  professes  to  be 
the  result  of  the  application  of  the  accepted  rules  of 
inductive  and  deductive  logic  to  its  subject  matter, 

73 


74  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

and  accepts,  within  the  limits  which  it  sets  to  itself, 
the  supremacy  of  reason,  is  science.  If  nothing  is  to 
be  called  science  but  that  which  is  exactly  true  from 
beginning  to  end,  I  am  afraid  there  is  very  little 
science  in  the  world  outside  mathematics.  Among 
the  physical  sciences  I  do  not  know  that  any  could 
claim  more  than  that  each  is  true  within  certain 
limits,  so  narrow  that,  for  the  present  at  any  rate, 
they  may  be  neglected." 

But  when  a  committee  of  the  London  Dialectical 
Society  was  formed,  in  1868-1869,  to  investigate  these 
very  questions,  and,  if  possible,  extend  these  limits, 
and  composed  of  thirty-three  of  the  most  capable 
men  in  Great  Britain,  of  whom  the  celebrated 
Alfred  R.  Wallace  was  one  member,  and  the  Rev. 
Dr  Charles  Maurice  Davies,  of  the  English  Church, 
another,  and  Mr  Huxley  was  invited  to  become  a 
member,  to  investigate  these  very  questions,  in  the 
precise  manner  demanded  by  him,  for  science,  he 
replied  as  follows  : — 

"  SIR — I  regret  that  1  am  unable  to  accept  the 
invitation  of  the  Council  of  the  Dialectical  Society 
to  co-operate  with  a  committee  for  the  investigation 
of  '  spiritualism '  ;  and  for  two  reasons.  In  the 
first  place,  I  have  no  time  for  such  an  inquiry,  which 
would  involve  much  trouble  and  (unless  it  were 
unlike  all  inquiries  of  that  kind  I  have  known)  much 
annoyance.  In  the  second  place,  I  take  no  interest 
in  the  subject.  The  only  case  of  '  spiritualism '  I 
have  had  the  opportunity  of  examining  into  for 
myself,  was  as  gross  an  imposture  as  ever  came  under 
my  notice.  But  supposing  the  phenomena  to  be 
genuine — they  do  not  interest  me.  If  anybody 
would  endow  me  with  the  faculty  of  listening  to  the  ' 
chatter  of  old  women  and  curates  in  the  nearest 
cathedral  town,  I  should  decline  the  privilege,  having 
better  things  to  do. 

"  And  if  the  folk  in  the  spiritual  world  do  not  talk 
more  wisely  and  sensibly  than  their  friends  report 
them  to  do,  I  put  them  in  the  same  category. 

"  The  only  good  that  I  can  see  in  a  demonstration 


THE  BAN  OF  A  PRIORI  75 

of  the  truth  of  '  spiritualism  '  is  to  furnish  an  ad- 
ditional argument  against  suicide.  Better  live  a 
crossing  sweeper  than  die  and  be  made  to  talk 
twaddle  by  a  '  medium  '  at  a  guinea  a  seance.  I  am, 
sir,  etc.,  T.  H.  HUXLEY. 

January  1869." 


An  eminent  writer,  commenting  on  this  ex- 
traordinary letter,  remarks  : 

"If  (as  the  Professor  would  probably  have  ad- 
mitted) a  very  large  majority  of  those  who  daily 
depart  this  life  are  persons  addicted  to  twaddle, 
persons  who;e  pleasures  are  sensual  rather  than 
intellectual  —  whence  is  to  come  the  transforming 
power  which  is  suddenly,  at  the  mere  throwing  off  of 
the  physical  body,  to  change  these  into  beings  able  to 
appreciate  and  delight  in  high  and  intellectual  pur- 
suits ?  The  thing  would  be  a  miracle,  the  greatest 
of  miracles,  and  surely  Professor  Huxley  was  the  last 
man  to  contemplate  innumerable  miracles  as  part  of 
the  order  of  nature  ;  and  all  for  what  ?  Merely  to 
save  these  people  from  the  necessary  consequences  of 
their  misspent  lives.  For  the  essential  teaching  of 
spiritualism  is,  that  we  are  all  of  us,  in  every  act  and 
thought,  helping  to  build  up  a  '  mental  fabric  '  which 
will  be  and  will  constitute  ourselves,  more  com- 
pletely after  the  death  of  the  body  than  it  does  now. 
Just  as  this  fabric  is  well  or  ill  built,  so  will  our  pro- 
gress and  happiness  be  aided  or  retarded." 

Is  not  this  of  importance  enough  to  interest  a 
philosopher  or  a  physicist  ?  Can  anyone  for  a 
moment  consider  the  stupendous  results  to  every 
individual,  to  the  whole  human  race  present  and 
future,  to  the  cause  of  education,  morality  and 
justice,  to  have  it  known  beyond  doubt  or  question, 
and  to  the  meanest  as  well  as  to  the  highest  intellect, 
that,  as  we  sow  here  we  shall  reap  there  ;  that 
ignorance  here  develops  its  full  penalties  there  ;  that 
wrong  and  oppression  here  must  be  paid  for  in 
agonising  growth  again  from  far  down  in  the  scale, 
and  over  long,  long  periods  of  time,  till  final  release 
shall  come  by  toil  and  privation  compared  with  which 


76  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

every  unjust  pleasure  here  is  not  of  a  feather's  weight, 
and  that  even  then  the  endless,  remorseful  memory 
will  perhaps  remain — was  all  this  a  thing  not  of 
sufficient  interest  to  make  it  worth  some  trouble  and 
annoyance  ? 

The  same  criticisms  were  made  upon  all  original 
investigators ;  when  Franklin  experimented  with 
his  kites,  his  work  was  ridiculed  in  similar  fashion, 
and  when  his  papers  on  lightning  conductors  were 
exhibited  to  the  French  Academy  they  were 
ignominiously  thrown  out.  He  was  asked  "  Of  what 
use  is  all  this  kite-flying  ?  "  and  his  noble  reply  still 
has,  with  accumulated  momentum,  its  original  force 
^=r"  _QLwhat  use  is  a  baby  ?  " 


The  baby  now  carries  mankind  on  the  wings  of 
the  wind,  speaks  through  the  free  air  from  continent 
to  continent,  and  will  soon  be  the  dominating  power 
of  the  world,  and  Franklin,  even  though  he  had 
done  no  more,  would  stand  at  the  front  among  the 
great  apostles  of  science.  Where  now  are  his  de- 
tractors ? 

In  1869  a  writer  in  The  New  York  Tribune  narrates 
a  conversation  with  Herbert  Spencer,  on  the  question 
of  the  communion  of  spirits  with  mortals,  in  which 
Mr  Spencer  "  met  the  facts  by  saying  that  he  had 
settled  the  question  on  a  priori  grounds." 

This  is  the  favourite,  in  fact  the  only  way,  in 
which  this  question  has  ever  been  settled  against  the 
facts. 

But  Alfred  Russel  Wallace,  in  considering  these 
subjects,  says :  "  If  there  is  any  one  thing  which  modern 
philosophy  teaches  more  consistently  than  another, 
it  is  that  we  can  have  no  a  priori  knowledge  of  natural 
phenomena  or  of  natural  laws.  But  to  declare  that 
any  facts,  testified  to  by  several  independent  wit- 
nesses, are  impossible,  and  to  act  upon  this  declara- 
tion so  far  as  to  refuse  to  examine  these  facts  when 
opportunity  offers,  is  to  lay  claim  to  this  very  a  priori 
knowledge  of  nature  which  has  been  universally 
given  up."  Ah  no  !  The  problems  of  nature  and  life 
are  not  of  this  sort.  To  ape  the  a  priori  of  science 
is  to  ape  the  a  priori  of  God. 


THE  BAN  OF  A  PRIORI  77 

For,  to  quote  Tennyson's  "  In  Memoriam," 

"  Life  is  not  as  idle  ore; 
But  iron  dug  from  central  gloom, 
And  heated  hot  with  burning  fears, 
And  dipped  in  baths  of  hissing  tears, 
And  battered  with  the  shocks  of  doom 
To  shape  and  use." 


PART   II 


CHAPTER   XII 

SUMMARY  OF   PART  I. 

IN  the  previous  part  of  this  work  I  have  endeavoured 
to  show  that  the  basis  of  all  religions,  of  whatever 
race,  country  or  age,  was  the  same,  and  that  this 
basis  is  precisely  identical  with  the  claims  and 
practices  of  modern  spiritualism.  I  also  endeavoured 
to  show  that  none  of  these  various  religions  ever 
claimed  to  be  the  sole  source  of  the  phenomena  mani- 
fested at  their  birth,  if  any  of  them  can  be  said  to 
have  had  a  birth,  excepting  with  the  birth  of  man 
himself,  for,  as  Tylor  says,  in  his  "  Primitive 
Culture,"  "  The  thoughts  and  principles  of  modern 
Christianity  are  attached  to  intellectual  clues  which 
run  back  through  far  pre-Christian  ages  to  the  very 
origin  of  human  civilisation,  perhaps  even  of  human 
existence." 

I  have  also  endeavoured  to  show  that  this  uni- 
versal belief,  in  all  times  and  ages,  and  among  all 
peoples,  is  valid  evidence  of  its  truth — that  is  to  say, 
it  was  either  created  into  man  when  man  was  first 
created,  or  else  was  revealed  to  him  as  a  spiritual 
complement,  and  these  spiritual  powers  were  put 
into  his  possession,  with  spiritual  intercommunication 
between  the  individual  intellects  or  spirits  of  the  race, 
and  also  with  outside  contact  with  and  recognition 
of  that  other  and  higher  and  vaster  part  of  intellect 
or  spirit  in  which  "  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being." 

I  have  endeavoured  to  deal  with  religion  as  a 
whole  as  well  as  with  its  special  sub-religions  or 
divisions,  and  these  different  religions  may  be  com- 
paratively higher  or  lower  in  the  scale  as  we  may 
conceive  them,  but  they  are  God's  living  and  mam- 

F  8l 


82  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

festing  witness  in  every  age  and  to  every  people  ; 
and  I  have  shown  that  the  grand  psychical  concep- 
tions underlying  them  are  fundamentally  as  high  and 
pure  in  the  earliest  as  in  the  later  ages,  and  among 
peoples  low  in  the  scale  of  humanity  as  among  those 
higher. 

Human  dwellings,  be  they  dug-outs,  or  of  mud, 
stone,  brick  or  marble,  and  however  diverse  they  may 
be  in  extent,  architecture  or  external  appearance, 
are  substantially  identical  within.  Some  are  larger 
and  better  furnished,  some  have  many  chambers, 
others  but  a  few ;  but  every  one  has  a  recognised  place 
for  cooking,  one  for  eating,  one  for  sleeping,  and  one 
for  rest,  ease  and  the  higher  life,  and  we  note  these 
things  at  once,  and  they  are  the  evidences  to  us  that 
each  is  a  dwelling-place  for  men,  simply  because  men 
are  essentially  alike,  and  the  wants  and  adaptations 
and  satisfactions  of  one  are  the  wants  and  adapta- 
tions and  satisfactions  of  all. 

The  intelligent  view  brings  the  common  revela- 
tion, because  it  comes  from  the  experiences  of  our 
common  humanity.  So  it  is  with  the  recognition  of 
the  Divinity  and  of  the  future  life,  which  are  inse- 
parable. God  reveals  Himself  through  all  religions, 
just  as  humanity  reveals  itself  through  all  dwelling- 
places,  and  our  religious  knowledge  could  not  be  so 
uniform  unless  there  were  a  common  source  of  in- 
tuition and  knowledge,  and  the  only  possible  source  is 
revelation,  free  and  uniform,  from  a  divine  original, 
which,  while  working  on  a  living  free  will  in  men,  is 
ye£_lljthe  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  for  ever." 

Let  me  quote  here  the  following  from  Professor 
J.  Estlin  Carpenter,  of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford  : — 

"  But  we  now  know  that  the  Bible  is  by  no  means 
the  only  collection  of  religious  teaching  which  anti-1 
quity  created.  The  last  century  has  brought  to  light 
the  mighty  literatures  of  the  empires  and  peoples  of 
the  East.  From  the  Nile  to  the  Ganges,  from  the 
ancient  mounds  of  Mesopotamia  to  the  temples  of 
China  and  Japan,  whole  libraries  have  been  recovered, 
showing  that  everywhere  among  the  more  advanced 
peoples  religion  has  embodied  itself  in  law  and  hymn, 


SUMMARY  OF  PART  I.  83 

in  story  and  prayer.  The  student  finds  again  that  his 
idea  of  revelation  must  be  widened  ;  he  cannot  se- 
clude one  literature  in  a  sacred  enclosure,  and  declare 
all  the  rest  profane.  He  must  frankly  treat  all  by 
the  same  methods,  apply  to  all  the  same  tests,  and 
judge  all  on  the  same  principles.  In  doing  so  he  wins 
one  result  of  incalculable  importance.  Religion 
appears  as  something  that  is  practically  universal, 
a  part  of  the  higher  experience  of  the  whole  race. 
That  may  not  be  a  demonstration  of  its  truth.  But 
it  proves  that  in  one  side  of  his  nature  man  has  been 
always  seeking  after  the  unseen  ;  and  in  one  aspect  his 
efforts  to  find  it  may  be  described  as  the  response  of 
his  spirit  to  the  constant  appeal  of  the  boundless 
world  confronting  and  surrounding  him,  '  Under- 
stand me,  interpret  me,  trust  me,  and  work  with  me,' 
and  he  adds,  '  to  these  testimonies  each  generation 
makes  its  own  additions,  so  that  the  record  con- 
tinually gains  in  weight  and  significance.' ' 

Romanes  defines  religion  as  follows  : — "  By  the 
term  religion  I  shall  mean  any  theory  of  personal 
agency  in  the  universe  belief  in  which  is  strong  enough 
in  any  degree  to  influence  conduct." 

That  is  to  say,  religion  demands,  acknowledges, 
and  is  essentially  based  upon  a  personal,  spiritual, 
superhuman,  operative  agency  in  the  universe  acting 
upon  man.  Bear  in  mind  that  'personal  does  not 
imply  personality  in  the  human  sense  (the  Bible 
tells  us  God  is  a  spirit),  although  we  do  not  yet  know 
the  extent  and  scope  of  what  we  call  our  "  person- 
ality "  ;  it  certainly,  as  we  now  know,  transcends  our 
physical  body,  and  has  phases  and  connections  far 
transcending  what,  only  a  few  years  ago,  science 
ignorantly  decreed  it  to  be. 

Spiritualism  in  all  its  broader  aspects  is  thus 
included  in  religion ;  but  not  that  emasculated 
system  of  earth-bounded  morality,  without  religion, 
or  without  regard  to  religion,  which  passes  under 
the  name  of  ethics,  and  ethical  culture,  pure  and 
simple,  and  which  has  its  cult,  as  Comte  tried  to 
manufacture  a  god,  out  of  a  composite  humanity,  just 
as  photographers  make  a  composite  photograph  of 


84  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

a  thousand  women,  or  other  people,  to  show  the 
"  type,"  when  the  result  is  to  show  an  ingeniously 
contrived  picture  of  a  monstrosity  which  never 
existed  on  earth  or  elsewhere,  and  without  sense,  soul 
or  intellect — a  sort  of  Frankenstein,  with  disjecta 
membra  juxtaposed  from  everywhere,  and  with  soul 
and  individuality  lost  in  the  nowhere. 

Ethics  is  all  right  in  its  place,  but  it  is  a  conse- 
quence, not  a  cause,  not  of  what  each  one  thinks  he 
believes,  or  believes  he  thinks  that  he  would  like  to  do, 
but  of  learning  what  he  ought  to  do  ;  and  there  is  no 
learning  without  a  better  informed  teacher,  and  no 
knowledge  which  does  not  come  from  a  higher  source 
of  knowledge;  simple,  common,  cheap,  physical  evolu- 
tion in  itself  negatives  all  such  factitious  and  sporadic 
systems  :  no  stream  can  rise  higher  than  its  source. 

These  are  the  "  moral  satisfactions,"  says 
Romanes,  "  which  always  land  us  in  misery."  This 
distinguished  writer  and  man  of  science  well  says,  in 
his  latest  writings  :  "  Physical  causation  cannot  be 
made  to  supply  its  own  explanation,  and  the  mere 
persistence  of  force,  even  if  it  were  conceded  to 
account  for  particular  cases  of  physical  sequence, 
can  give  no  account  of  the  ubiquitous  and  eternal 
direction  of  force  in  the  construction  and  maintenance 
of  universal  order." 

'  To  account  for  this  universal  order,"  he  tells  us 
in  another  work,  "  it  seems  but  reasonable  to  conclude 
that  the  integrating  principle  of  the  whole — the 
Spirit,  as  it  were,  of  the  Universe — must  be  something 
which,  while  holding  nearest  kinship  with  our  highest 
conception  of  disposing  power,  must  yet  be  im- 
measurably superior  to  the  psychism  of  man." 

And  he  defines  nature  as  something  which  "  thus 
becomes  invested  with  a  psychical  value  as  greatly 
transcending  in  magnitude  that  of  the  human  mind 
as  the  material  frame  of  the  universe  transcends  in 
its  magnitude  the  material  frame  of  the  human 
body  "  ;  and  adds,  "  if  the  ultimate  constitution  of 
all  things  is  psychical,  the  philosophy  of  the  Cosmos 
becomes  a  '  philosophy  of  the  Unconscious '  only 
because  it  is  a  philosophy  of  the  superconscious." 


SUMMARY  OF  PART  I.  85 

Says  Charles  Darwin,  in  a  letter  written  in  1873  : 
"  The  impossibility  of  conceiving  that  this  grand  and 
wondrous  universe,  with  our  conscious  selves,  arose 
through  chance,  seems  to  be  the  chief  argument  for 
the  existence  of  God." 

As  no  one  can  believe  what  it  is  impossible  to 
conceive,  this  statement  of  Darwin  amounts,  in  his 
view,  to  a  demonstration,  if  "our  conscious  selves" 
have  any  existence,  for  in  the  absence  of  conscious- 
ness, or  mind,  or  intellect,  there  is  no  faculty  or 
means  for  conceiving  or  believing  anything  whatever. 

Professor  Momerie,  of  King's  College,  commenting 
on  Darwin's  letter,  says :  "  Whoever  believes  in  its 
accidental  origin  must  have  a  singularly  constituted 
mind.  In  comparison  with  such  a  supposition,  the 
most  extravagant  vagaries  of  a  theological  fanatic, 
the  wild  imaginings  of  a  raving  lunatic,  are  calm  and 
sober  sense." 

I  have  endeavoured  to  show,  with  the  universal 
knowledge  and  acceptance  of  the  facts  and  phenomena 
of  spiritualism  everywhere  and  in  all  ages,  that  the 
later-born  physical  sciences,  the  new-comers,  had  no 
right  whatever  to  put  it  on  trial  against  an  a  priori, 
and  condemn  it  unheard.  They  had  the  right  to  put 
it  under  examination  and  carefully  observe  and 
determine  its  facts  and  phenomena,  and  their  inter- 
pretation and  validity,  just  as  these  sciences  had  to  do 
with  the  other  beliefs  and  phenomena  of  the  past, 
such  as  the  tides,  ball-lightning,  meteorites,  the  ether, 
the  atmosphere,  the  stars  of  space,  and,  later,  the 
phonograph,  the  phenomena  of  steam,  electricity, 
heat  and  light,  etc.,  but  this  is  precisely  what  the  new- 
born science  did  not  do,  what  it  refused  to  do,  in  fact, 
and  could  not  be  made  to  do. 

It  abandoned,  in  dealing  with  these  phenomena, 
the  scientific  method,  which  alone  gives  a  science  any 
possible  value  or  scope,  in  favour  of  an  a  priori,  which 
is  the  death  of  science,  and  the  suicide  of  its  methods  ; 
I  have  shown  that  this  a  priori  was  in  itself  a  grosser 
superstition  than  the  fetich  cult  of  "  a  rag  and  a  bone 
and  a  hank  of  hair  "  amid  those  mid- jungle  and  ape- 
like Africans,  who,  with  leaps  and  howls  and  slash- 


86  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

ings,  "  Worship  Mumbo- Jumbo  in  the  mountains  of 
the  moon."  The  "  scientific  method  "  is  the  only 
correct  method,  but  to  confuse  what  passes  for 
scientific  method,  in  dealing  with  these  subjects,  with 
valid  scientific  achievements,  is  to  reason  in  a  circle, 
and  beg  the  question  when  the  first  break  in  con- 
tinuity is  reached. 

As  for  these  concrete  achievements  of  physical 
science,  in  the  form  of  solid,  boiled-down  and  per- 
manently settled  questions,  fundamental  in  character, 
subject  to  no  further  revision,  and  going  to  build  up  a 
completed  structure  which,  as  it  approaches  com- 
pletion, will  require  no  overhauling  of  what  has  been 
already  secured  and  built  in,  no  reversal  of  what  was 
so  confidently  bottled  up  and  labelled,  and  no  in- 
tellectual shame  for  what  was  so  boastingly  spread 
out  for  the  public  to  admire  and  accept,  I  have  already 
quoted  the  words  of  Huxley,  one  of  the  most  pro- 
minent of  the  physicists  of  his  day,  so  many  of  whom 
sought  to  crowd  the  minds  with  fancies  in  the  guise  of 
facts  (as  our  school  teachers  do,  with  exploded 
theories  of  physiology,  and  untenable  hypotheses  of 
the  action  of  unfamiliar  foods  and  drinks,  and  all 
sorts  of  ipse-dixits,  to  the  neglect  of  reading,  writing, 
ciphering,  morals  and  conduct),  but  this  eminent 
authority  nevertheless  conceded  that  "  Among  the 
physical  sciences  I  do  not  know  that  any  could  claim 
more  than  that  each  is  true  within  certain  limits,  so 
narrow  that,  for  the  present,  at  any  rate,  they  may 
be  neglected." 

Now  if  this  statement  means  anything  at  all,  it 
means  that  in  order  to  learn  the  available  amount  of 
actual  and  original  scientific  proof,  and  its  true  limits, 
in  any  of  the  physical  sciences,  one  may  take  a  pair 
of  compasses  and  describe  the  very  minutest  circle 
he  can  possibly  draw,  and  then,  the  limits  are  "  so 
narrow  that,  for  the  present,  at  any  rate,  they  may  be 
neglected." 

I  fully  understand  this,  of  course,  as  applied  to  the 
scientific  treatment  and  results  in  dealing  with  the 
great  fundamentals  of  science,  but  it  is  not  I  who  say 
this,  but  one  of  its  greatest  apostles. 


SUMMARY  OF  PART  I.  87 

Yet  many  eminent  physicists  of  those  days  have 
set  up  spirit,  as  it  were,  like  a  lying  malefactor,  on  so- 
called  trial,  and  who  yet  would  hear  no  witnesses. 
Even  the  tragic  old  church  wanted  witnesses  to 
properly  damn  a  soul.  But  these  dreamers,  sitting 
by  the  rushlight  of  a  fatuous  a  priori,  "  damned  it 
like  a  gentleman,"  without  soiling  their  perfumed 
fingers.  But  how  ? — As  the  Light  Brigade,  "  Theirs 
not  to  reason  why,"  charged  with  its  sabres,  a  few 
hundred  strong,  the  forts,  batteries  and  armies, 
accumulated  and  prepared  during  years  of  labour,  and 
then  staggered  back  broken  and  defeated.  Said  the 
French  marshal  who  looked  on,  "It  is  magnificent, 
but  it  is  not  war." 


CHAPTER   XIII 

MIRACLES 

IN  this  second  part  of  my  book  I  shall  endeavour 
to  deal  more  especially  with  the  relationship  existing 
between  the  methods  of  spiritualism  and  the  method 
of  science,  which  is  the  only  method  of  reaching  truth 
in  our  present  stage  of  human  existence,  for  even 
intuitional  knowledge,  first-hand  knowledge,  must 
stand  at  the  bar  of  scientific  method.  As  the  sacred 
writer  says,  we  must  "  prove  all  things,  and  hold  fast 
to  that  which  is  good." 

One  of  the  most  powerful  arguments  of  modern 
physicists  against  so-called  miracles  has  been  based 
on  Hume's  argument  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  his  work 
on  Human  Understanding,  and  this  argument  pleased 
its  author  so  much  that  he  prefaced  it  by  saying,  "  I 
flatter  myself  that  I  have  discovered  an  argument 
which,  if  just,  will  with  the  wise  and  learned  be  an 
everlasting  check  to  all  kinds  of  superstitious 
delusion." 

He  first  states  two  definitions  of  a  miracle,  both  of 
which,  by  the  way,  are  philosophically  and  scientific- 
ally defective.  The  first  definition  is  that  it  "is  a 
violation  of  the  laws  of  nature,"  which  it  would  only 
be  possible  to  assert  if  we  assume  that  we  know  all  the 
laws  of  nature.  But  the  Author  of  all  the  laws  alone 
knows  all  the  laws,  which  could  only  reach  us  by 
revelation,  certainly  not  by  human  experience,  and 
this  revelation  is  one  of  the  very  things  which  his 
argument  is  intended  to  disprove. 

The  second  definition  is  that  it  "  is  a  transgression 
of  a  law  of  nature  by  the  Deity  or  by  the  interposition 
of  an  invisible  agent."  The  error  is  that  if  it  is  by  the 
Deity  then  it  is  not  a  transgression,  because  the  Deity, 

88 


MIRACLES  89 

having  been  thus  named  by  Hume,  is  assumed  to  be 
the  author  and  operator  of  all  the  laws  of  nature  ;  if 
"  by  the  interposition  of  an  invisible  agent,"  then,  if 
the  agent  be  already  known,  even  if  invisible,  it  is  not 
a  miracle  at  all,  while,  if  it  be  unknown,  it  may  yet 
become  known  later  on,  as  all  known  agencies  of 
nature  have  become  known  ;  so  that  it  cannot  be 
considered  a  transgression  of  any  laws  until  mankind 
has  ceased  to  investigate  and  discover  because 
nothing  more  is  left  us  to  investigate  and  discover — 
that  is,  until  mankind  has  ceased  to  exist,  for  certainly 
mankind  can  never  become  omniscient,  and  at  that 
time  it  will  not  matter  what  the  answer  may  have 
been. 

Hume  then  lays  down  his  great  discovery  as 
follows  : — "  There  must  therefore  be  an  uniform 
experience  against  every  miraculous  event,  otherwise 
the  event  would  not  merit  this  application.  And  as 
an  uniform  experience  amounts  to  a  proof,  there  is 
here  a  direct  and  full  proof,  from  the  nature  of  the 
fact,  against  the  existence  of  any  miracle,  nor  can 
such  proof  be  destroyed,  or  the  miracle  rendered 
credible,  but  by  an  opposite  proof  which  is  superior." 

If  "an  universal  experience "  is  to  have  the 
validity  given  to  it  by  Hume,  anyone  can  see  that  it 
must  have  destroyed  his  whole  argument,  since,  as  I 
have  shown,  the  universal  experience  of  all  past  ages 
throughout  the  world  was  for,  and  not  against,  the 
facts  of  spiritualism,  including  so-called  miracles, 
so  that  those  who  solitarily  endeavoured  to  deny 
these  were  themselves  setting  up  a  miracle  against 
cold  and  sober  law.  But  Hume  himself,  though  used 
as  a  cudgel  by  so-called  men  of  science,  was  in  no 
sense  a  man  of  science  at  all,  and  his  whole  argument 
has  repeatedly  been  riddled  into  worthlessness,  and 
its  false  assumptions  and  contradictions  fully  exposed. 

As  Mr  A.  R.  Wallace  says,  "It  is  radically 
fallacious,  because  if  it  were  sound,  no  perfectly  new 
fact  could  ever  be  proved,  since  the  first  and  each 
succeeding  witness  would  be  assumed  to  have  uni- 
versal experience  against  him.  Such  a  simple  fact 
as  the  existence  of  flying  fish  could  never  be  proved  if 


90  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

Hume's  argument  is  a  good  one  ;  for  the  first  man 
who  saw  and  described  one  would  have  the  universal 
experience  against  him  that  fish  do  not  fly,  or  make 
any  approach  to  flying  ;  and  his  evidence  being 
rejected,  the  same  argument  would  apply  to  the 
second,  and  so  to  every  subsequent  witness  ;  and  thus 
no  man  at  the  present  day  who  has  not  seen  a  flying 
fish  alive,  and  actually  flying,  ought  to  believe  that 
such  things  exist." 

Thomas  H.  Huxley,  writing  on  Hume's  assumed 
law  of  miracles,  puts  the  matter  in  a  nutshell,  the 
whole  question  turning  on  the  sufficiency  of  evidence, 
which  is  what  spiritualists  have  always  contended  for. 
"  Nobody  can  presume,"  says  Huxley,  "  to  say  what 
the  order  of  nature  must  be  ;  all  that  the  widest 
experience  (even  if  it  be  extended  over  all  past  time 
and  through  all  space)  that  events  had  happened  in  a 
certain  way  could  justify,  would  be  a  proportionately 
strong  expectation  that  events  will  go  on  happening, 
and  the  demand  for  a  proportional  strength  of 
evidence  in  favour  of  any  assertion  that  they  had 
happened  otherwise.  It  is  this  weighty  considera- 
tion, the  truth  of  which  everyone  who  is  capable  of 
logical  thought  must  surely  admit,  which  knocks  the 
bottom  out  of  all  a  priori  objections  either  to  ordinary 
'  miracles  '  or  the  efficiency  of  prayer,  in  so  far  as  the 
latter  implies  the  miraculous  intervention  of  a  higher 
power.  No  one  is  entitled  to  say,  a  priori ,  that 
prayer  for  some  change  in  the  ordinary  course  of/ 
nature  cannot  possibly  avail." 

Romanes  is  equally  emphatic  in  his  opposition  to 
Hume.  He  says,  in  his  "  Thoughts  on  Religion  "  : 
"As  an  illustration  of  impure  agnosticism  take 
Hume's  a  priori  argument  against  miracles,  leading 
on  to  the  analogous  case  of  the  attitude  of  scientific 
men  toward  modern  spiritualism.  Notwithstanding 
that  they  have  the  close  analogy  of  mesmerism  to 
warn  them,  scientific  men  are  here  quite  as  dogmatic 
as  the  straitest  sect  of  theologians.  I  may  give 
examples  which  can  cause  no  offence,  inasmuch  as 
the  men  in  question  have  themselves  made  the  facts 
public  viz. : refusing  to  go  to  a  famous  spiritualist; 


MIRACLES  91 

refusing  to  try,  in  thought-reading  [Note :  On  the 

whole  I  have  thought  it  best  to  omit  the  names]. 
These  men  all  professed  to  be  agnostics  at  the  very- 
time  when  thus  so  egregiously  violating  their  philo- 
sophy by  their  conduct." 

And  he  is  equally  severe  with  regard  to  faith.  He 
says  :  "  What  a  terrible  hell  science  would  have  made 
of  the  world,  if  she  had  abolished  the  '  spirit  of  faith  ' 
even  in  human  relations.  The  fact  is,  Huxley  falls 
into  the  common  error  of  identifying  '  faith  '  with 
opinion." 

The  distinction  of  course  is  that,  while  faith  is  a 
product  of  the  intuitive  and  supernormal,  opinion  is 
a  product  of  the  reason  and  normal.  This  will  be 
fully  treated  in  a  succeeding  chapter. 

This  question  of  miracle  is  by  no  means  as  simple 
as  it  might  seem.  The  miracles  of  one  age  are  the 
scientific  phenomena  of  the  next.  The  purpose,  even, 
of  a  miracle  may  be  subserved  perfectly  if  it  be  per- 
formed by  means  of  natural  laws  unknown  to  the 
performer,  and  receivecTas  a  miracle  by  the  observers, 
equally  ignorant  of  the  same  natural  laws.  And  this 
indeed  may  be  extended,  in  our  present  state  of 
knowledge,  to  all  phenomena  the  direct  explanation 
of  which  is  unknown.  A  telepathically  received 
notice  of  a  coming  eclipse  communicated  in  a  dream  to 
an  Indian  medicine-man  totally  ignorant  of  the  pos- 
sibility of  calculating  eclipses,  and  by  him  revealed  to 
his  fellow-tribesmen,  equally  ignorant,  as  a  prophecy 
by  a  dream  spirit,  would  in  so  far  be  a  geniune 
miracle,  while  to  us  behind  the  scenes  it  might  appear 
as  an  unconscious  deception.  Before  the  days  of  the 
phonograph,  had  such  an  instrument  been  operated 
in  secret  in  any  company,  whether  scientific  or  not, 
there  would  have  been  but  two  possible  explanations, 
the  one  that  it  was  fraudulent,  and  the  other  that  it 
was  supernormal ;  and,  excluding  the  former,  which 
could  have  been  done,  the  latter  would  have  been  the 
only  possible  explanation,  for  all  our  scientific  as  well 
as  popular  knowledge  excluded  as  possible  the 
simultaneous  rendering  of  the  various  tones  and  pro- 
gressions of  a  multitude  of  instruments  in  a  complex 


92  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

harmony,  by  means  of  a  single  metal  pin  travelling 
along  a  single  groove  in  a  wax  cylinder.  Until  the 
days  of  Newton  the  tides  were  miraculous,  and  to  this 
day  gravitation  still  continues  to  be  miraculous,  and 
so  of  all  the  fundamentals  of  knowledge  or  science 
which  have  not  been  searched  out  and  explained  (not 
merely  named,  for  that  is  no  explanation),  and  few  of 
them,  if  any,  have  been  so  searched  out  and  explained. 

"  Do  you  believe  in  miracles  ?  "  I  was  sneeringly 
asked  in  one  of  our  discussions.  I  asked  my 
questioner  what  he  meant  by  "  miracles,"  and  he  re- 
plied, "  I  mean  the  New  Testament  miracles,  such  as 
changing  water  into  wine, and  the  like."  "  Oh,"  I  said, 
"  I  thought  that  you  referred  to  real  miracles,  such  as 
the  growing  of  a  stalk  of  grass,  or  the  chick  in  the 
egg  " ;  whereat  he  was  surprised,  for  he  evidently  knew 
all  about  such  matters,  which  were,  doubtless,  not 
miraculous  at  all.  Then  I  told  him  that  while  I  had 
nothing  to  say,  pro  or  con,  as  to  the  actual  occur- 
rences in  question  to  which  he  referred,  yet  I  fully 
believed  in  the  scientific  possibility  of  a  great  many 
of  the  so-called  Bible  miracles,  and  that  without 
considering  their  divine  origin  in  any  exceptional  sense 
at  all ;  and  that  it  seemed  strange  to  me  that  while 
sceptics  readily  accept  production  by  a  fortuitous 
clashing  of  chemical  atoms,  of  living  protoplasm,  a 
most  complicated  substance,  they  are  ready  to  deny 
the  possibility  of  a  like  production,  when  mind  and 
purpose  are  superadded,  of  mere  wine,  a  liquid- 
hardly  complicated  in  its  composition  at  all.  Perhaps 
it  was  that  the  one  was  a  record,  and  dangerous,  while 
the  other  was  a  pleasant  fancy  to  the  dilettanti. 

The  difference,  chemically,  between  water  and 
wine  is  very  slight,  and,  if  wedding  parties  in  those 
days  were  like  some  that  I  have  attended,  there  would 
have  been  quite  enough  carbon  dioxide  in  the 
atmosphere  to  supply  that  requisite  element,  outside 
of  other  possible  sources  ;  and  as  for  flavouring 
ethers ! — 

"  The  river  Rhine,  it  is  well  known, 
Doth  wash  your  city  of  Cologne  ; — 
But  tell  me,  Nymphs  !   what  power  divine 
Shall  henceforth  wash  the  river  Rhine  ?  !! 


MIRACLES  93 

To  convert  water  into  wine  would  require  much 
less  of  change  than  to  convert  apples  into  alcohol, 
or  starch  into  sugar,  both  of  which  are  constantly 
being  done  on  a  large  scale. 

To  put  such  a  "  miracle  "  on  the  lowest  plane 
possible,  I  might  mention  that  in  the  fall  of  1864, 
while  we  were  facing  Richmond  in  Virginia,  a  couple 
of  our  keen-witted  sutlers  learned  that  the  paymasters 
were  about  due,  and  borrowed  from  the  division 
commissary  a  number  of  empty  molasses  barrels, 
through  the  bung-holes  of  which  they  inserted  a  few 
sprigs  of  spruce  or  white  pine,  and  then  filled  the 
barrels  with  water,  setting  them  out  in  a  sunny  nook. 
By  the  time  the  paymasters  had  filled  the  soldiers' 
pockets  with  more  cash  than  many  of  them,  at  the 
time,  knew  what  to  do  with,  the  "  miracle  "  had  been 
performed,  and  a  pretty  good  article,  certainly  a  very 
stiff  article,  of  spruce  beer  was  on  tap,  and  it  was 
ladled  out  at  a  dime  a  tin-cupful,  and  the  stock  on 
hand  was  exhausted  in  a  few  hours.  The  only  miracle 
was  in  applying  the  inventive  idea  to  the  matter  in 
hand. 

I  adduce  these  simple  examples,  not  to  deny  the 
moral  effect  of  what  occurred  at  the  wedding  narrated 
in  the  gospels,  but  merely  to  show  that  the  "  con- 
tinuity of  nature  "  required  a  very  slight  shake,  if  any 
at  all,  to  take  psychical  advantage  of  the  physical 
transformations  constantly  going  on  everywhere. 

As  for  the  miracle  of  driving  the  "  demons  "  out 
of  the  demoniacs,  and  into  a  lot  of  swine,  that  is 
perfectly  credible,  if  the  phenomena  of  obsession  by 
earthbound  spiritual  presence  is  to  be  accepted ; 
and  the  evidence  for  poltergeists  and  obsession  is 
about  as  strong,  and  from  as  high  sources,  as  human 
testimony  can  make  it.  As  for  Jonah's  triumphant 
odyssey  into  and  out  of  the  "  great  fish,"  there  is 
nothing  scientifically  incredible  in  that  story.  I  am 
not  sure  that  it  was  even  narrated  as  an  actual 
occurrence,  but  analogous  cases  have  often  been 
reported,  one  of  a  Norwegian  sailor, .  I  believe, 
who  pretty  nearly  duplicated  the  old  missionary's 
experience.  I  once,  myself,  cut  out  of  a  moderate- 


94  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

sized  water-snake  a  large  live  frog,  a  considerable 
part  of  whose  cuticle  had  been  already  macerated  or 
digested  away,  and  the  animal  hopped  off  with  a 
grunt  of  thanks — possibly  towards  Nineveh,  which 
was  a  great  country  for  bull-frogs. 

As  for  the  Resurrection,  I  have  discussed  that  else- 
where in  these  chapters,  with  excellent  authority  in 
its  favour,  but  in  the  present  uncertainty  as  to  the 
presence  or  absence  of  life  in  doubtful  cases,  it  is  im- 
possible to  argue  the  matter  intelligently  until  science 
can  present  some  simple  and  certain  test  of  death, 
which  it  has  not  yet  been  able  to  do. 

Says  Professor  William  H.  Thomson,  in  his 
address  in  1892,  before  the  Philosophical  Faculty  of 
Columbia  College  :  "In  the  whole  sisterhood  of  the 
sciences  it  is  biology  which  depends  most  on  inference 
for  her  very  life.  Strip  biology  of  everything  except 
the  concrete  knowable,and  it  would  be  hard  to  imagine 
what  a  congress  of  biologists  would  find  to  talk  about. 
If  they  began  with  mentioning  living  protoplasm — 
what  is  life  ? — how  much  do  they  know  ?  that's 
the  word  now  know,  that  said  protoplasm  is  living, 
or  not  living,  or  how  much  living,  or  when  it 
began  to  live,  and  what  it  does  when  it  stops 
living  ?  " 

Professor  Michael  Foster  says  :  "  The  difference 
between  a  dead  human  body  and  a  living  one  is  still, 
to  a  large  extent,  estimated  by  drawing  inferences 
rather  than  actually  observed."  , 

Even  after  death,  bodies  exhumed  are  often  found 
to  have  continued  to  grow  hair,  which,  short  and 
scanty  when  buried,  is  now  found  to  be  long  and 
massed  up. 

The  problem  of  life  is  enormously  larger  than  self- 
styled  physical  specialists  ever  dream  it  to  be.  Says 
Lord  Kelvin,  in  The  Fortnightly  Review,  March  1892  : 
"  The  influence  of  animal  or  vegetable  life  on  matter 
is  infinitely  beyond  the  range  of  any  scientific  inquiry 
hitherto  entered  on.  Its  power  of  directing  the 
motions  of  moving  particles,  in  the  demonstrated 
daily  miracle  of  our  human  free-will,  and  in  the  growth 
of  generation  after  generation  of  plants  from  a  single 


MIRACLES  95 

seed,  are  infinitely  different  from  any  possible  results 
of  the  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms." 

Von  Hartmann,  in  his  "  Philosophy  of  the  Un- 
conscious," adduces  an  example,  from  the  severing 
one  of  the  annelids,  of  this  unconscious  power  of  life  : 
"  If  cut  in  two  by  a  cross  section  nature  builds  up 
each  of  the  severed  parts  into  a  perfect  animal  again," 
reconstructing  a  head  with  its  proper  appendages  for 
the  lower  half,  and  a  tail  and  its  adjuncts  for  the 
upper  one.  "  It  would  seem,"  says  Von  Hartmann, 
"  as  if  there  must  be  present  in  each  of  the  severed 
parts  an  idea  of  what  was  wanting  in  order  to  build 
up  again  the  whole  typical  form  of  the  species  ;  and 
this  idea  is  the  pattern  or  model  according  to  which 
the  unconscious  works.  From  each  of  the  cut  ends 
a  minute  drop  of  protoplasm  exudes,  and  this  is 
quickly  and  deftly  moulded  in  each  case  into  such  pro- 
longations of  the  alimentary  canal,  the  blood-vessels 
and  nerves,  as  are  needed  respectively  for  the  upper 
and  lower  half  of  the  animal  as  a  whole,  several  organs 
in  one  of  the  reconstructed  moieties  having  nothing 
analogous  to  them  in  the  other.  Merely  physical 
causation, blind  mechanism, cannot  explain  such  a  pro- 
cess :  Will  and  Intellect  must  co-operate  in  the  work." 

Professor  Thomson  describes  the  development  of 
a  whale  :  "  When  his  material  body  is  too  small  to 
be  seen  by  the  naked  eye,  dwelling  in  an  ocean  of  food 
the  size  of  a  pin's  head,  he  is  a  greater  living  thing 
than  when  his  bulk  is  more  than  that  of  two  thousand 
men,  because  by  that  time  he  has  outlived  most  of  the 
capacities  which  were  in  that  vanishing  speck  of 
matter  with  which  he  began.  In  that  little  mass 
of  protoplasm  there  was  something  which  not  only 
determined  how  every  cell  in  his  future  body  should 
come  into  being,  even  as  parts  of  legs  and  feet  which 
he  would  never  use  throughout  his  life,  but  keep 
tucked  up  deep  within  his  body  ;  but,  doubtless 
also  that  he  should  develop  some  things  derived,  not 
from  his  parents,  but  from  his  grandparents." 

Say  Stewart  and  Tait,  in  their  "  Unseen  Universe," 

'  WTe  are  led  from  these  two  great  laws,  as  well  as 

from  the  principle  of  Continuity,  to  regard,  as  at 


96  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

least  the  most  probable  solution,  that  there  is  an 
intelligent  Agent  operating  in  the  universe,  one  of 
whose  functions  is  to  develop  the  universe  objectively 
considered  ;  and  also  that  there  is  an  intelligent  Agent 
one  of  whose  functions  it  is  to  develop  intelligence  and 
life." 

So  Professor  Thomson  says  :  "  The  facts  of  sleep 
and  awakening  point  more,  in  our  opinion,  to  a  visitor 
from  outside  who  can  take  up  one  of  the  two  instru- 
ments as  he  chooses,  in  the  human  music-hall,  and 
can  play  with  them  any  variety  of  melodies,  because 
it  is  he  and  not  the  instrument  who  is  the  real  cause 
of  the  music." 

"  In  fine,"  say  Stewart  and  Tait,  "  we  conceive 
that  the  New  Testament  plainly  asserts  that  what 
Christ  accomplished  was  not  in  defiance  of  law,  but 
in  fulfilment  of  it ;  and  that  his  ability  to  do  so  much 
was  simply  due  to  the  fact  that  his  position  with 
reference  to  the  universe  was  different  from  that  of 
any  other  man." 

Even  the  virgin  conception  of  Jesus  (which  has 
proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  serious  difficulties  con- 
fronting even  many  devout  believers)  is  not  at  all 
incredible  or  unscientific.  Among  the  lower  animals 
such  examples  are  very  common.  Silkworms  are 
now  habitually  hatched  from  virgin  eggs,  as  experi- 
ence shows  that  they  produce  better  fibre,  and  Dr 
Loeb  has  recently  been  hatching  out  starfish  and 
medusae  indifferently  by  parthenogenesis,  or  bisexu-, 
ally,  as  he  added  a  solution  of  magnesia  salt  or  not  to 
the  surrounding  menstrum.  Even  among  human 
beings  the  productions  of  large  portions  of  a  human 
foetus,  with  many  parts  organised,  from  unquestion- 
able virgins,  for  example  female  infants  of  from  two 
to  six  years  old,  are  not  uncommon,  and  there  are  a 
number  of  cases  reported  in  which  whole  foetuses  are 
found  as  false  conceptions  in  the  male.  Anyone 
curious  in  these  matters  may  read  of  many  such  cases 
in  Dr  Gould's  "Curiosities  of  Medicine,"  a  recent 
work,  or  Dr  Eve's  "  Collection  of  Remarkable  Cases  in 
Surgery,"  published  in  1857  by  the  J.  B.  Lippincott 
Company  of  Philadelphia. 


MIRACLES  97 

Among  the  cases  related  in  the  latter  work,  which 
were  operated  surgically,  are  (i)  a  female  child  of  two 
years  and  nine  months  pregnant  with  her  sister — 
death  ;    (2)  Tumour  in  the  rectum  containing  the 
debris  of  a  foetus-extirpation  (the  case  of  a  little  girl 
aged  six  years) ;   (3)  A  testicle  containing  fat,  hair, 
bony     and     cartilaginous     formations — castration ; 
(4)   An   imperfectly   developed  fcetus  in  the   right 
testicle  of  an  infant ;  (5)  Fcetus  in  a  fcetus.     In  this 
case  a  young  woman  was  delivered  of  a  living  six  or 
seven  months'  child,  the  latter  having  a  large  mem- 
branous   sac    containing   a    placenta    and   a   dead 
fcetus  of  about  four  or  five  months  ;    (6)  a  human 
fcetus  developed  in  the  mesentery  of  a. boy  fourteen 
years  old — death.     Another  remarkable  case  is  re- 
corded at  length  in  this  work  of  a  girl  of  two  years 
and  nine  months  old,  who  apparently  was  afflicted 
with  ascites.     She  died  about  three  hours  after  the 
doctor's  arrival,  and  he  was  permitted  to  make  a  post 
mortem  examination.     Within  the  abdomen  was  a 
large   membranous   sac,   containing   between   three 
quarts  and  a  gallon  of  semi-putrid  yellow  water. 
"  Within  this  cavity  was  found  a  monster,  or  im- 
perfect child,  and  also  an  animal  substance  of  a  whitish 
colour.     The  monster  weighed  one  pound  and  four- 
teen ounces.     The  substance  weighed  two  ounces, 
was  rather  of  an  oval  figure,  and  was  connected  to  the 
child  from  which  it  was  taken  by  a  cord  that  had 
some  faint  resemblance  to  the  umbilical."     Of  this 
fcetus  itself,  the  author  says,  "  Its  thighs  were  drawn 
up  to  the  abdomen,  and  attached  to  it  in  places  ;  the 
left  resting  on  the  shoulder  and  reaching  as  far  as  the 
back  part  of  the  head  ;  the  right  resting  or  pressing 
on  the  back  of  the  right  hand.    The  left  leg  is  imper- 
fect, and  lies  back  along  the  thigh,  to  which  it  has 
grown.    The  right  leg  is  also  imperfect,  its  foot  is 
suspended  over  the  head.     On  one  foot  are  three  toes  ; 
on  the  other  a  small  appearance  of  two.     From  the 
knees  to  the  shoulder  there  is  considerable  perfection 
of  form.     Its  sex  is  indistinctly  marked  ;  the  indica- 
tions are  of  the  feminine.     The  left  arm  should  rather 
be  called  a  stump  than  an  arm,  it  has  no  hand ;   at 


g8  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

the  end  of  the  stump  is  a  nail.  The  right  arm  is  large 
and  long,  it  has  three  fingers  and  the  thumb.  The 
head  is  very  imperfect ;  it  rests  upon  the  breast  be- 
tween the  knees.  It  has  neither  ears  nor  eyes,  not 
appearance  of  any  substitute  for  either  ;  no  mouth, 
nor  anything  that  has  a  near  resemblance  to  it.  There 
is  on  the  left  side  of  the  face,  or  rather  that  region  of 
the  head  which  the  face  should  occupy,  a  small  pro- 
minence which  contained  three  teeth,  one  canine  and 
two  incisors  ;  they  are  all  about  the  size  of  the  teeth 
of  a  child  of  two  years  old.  On  the  back  part  of  the 
head  is  hair  of  dark  or  rather  of  an  auburn  colour, 
eight  or  nine  inches  long.  The  body  is  seven  inches 
long  and  ten  inches  in  circumference.  The  thighs 
six  to  eight  inches  in  circumference.  The  arm  five 
inches  long  ;  the  stump  not  quite  four  inches  in 
length." 

Certain  psychical  phenomena  of  a  suggestive 
character  accompanied  the  progress  of  this  case. 
"  She  was  of  the  ordinary  size  of  children  at  her  age, 
had  dark  hair  and  eyes,  and  would  have  been  hand- 
some, but  for  a  gloom  and  melancholy  that  sat  upon 
her  countenance,  which  made  her  appearance 
peculiarly  interesting.  She  looked  like  a  child  of 
grief.  Her  countenance  exhibited  evidences  of  a 
good  understanding,  and  her  little  tongue  confirmed 
it.  During  the  last  nine  months  of  her  life  she  had 
strongly  marked,  the '  longings '  of  pregnant  females." 

It  is  very  credible  that  by  mere  psychical  control 
and  the  substitution  of  order  for  disorder  in  develop- 
ment, such  an  offspring  might  have  been  born  living 
and  perfectly  formed,  and  reached  adult  life,  to  all 
appearances  similar  to  human  beings  produced  by 
the  sexual  union  in  the  normal  manner.  Whether 
it  ever  occurred  or  not  I  do  not  know,  but  such  an 
event  is  not  at  all  incredible,  and  may  have  occurred 
in  other  cases  besides  the  one  I  am  considering.  It  is 
to  me,  indeed,  a  curious  fact  that  critics  should  have 
undertaken  to  prove  that  it  could  not  have  occurred  in 
Judea,  by  showing  that  similar  births  had  been  re- 
ported elsewhere,  and  that  therefore  all  these  cases 
were  to  be  rejected. 


MIRACLES  99 

I  have  spoken  of  the  dogmatic  temerity  of  a 
physical  specialist  in  dealing  with  the  problems  of  life 
and  mind,  as  foreign  to  him  as  physical  pursuits  are 
to  a  dogmatic  theologian.  But  there  are  com- 
paratively few  of  these  physical  specialists  who  will 
turn  on  their  own  specialty  and  abuse  it  in  the  name 
of  a  psychology  of  which  they  are,  in  such  case, 
concededly  and  necessarily  ignorant.  In  fact, 
instead  of  fouling  their  own  nest,  they  are  more  apt 
to  conceal  and  pervert  everything  which  threatens  it ; 
they  are  ready  to  "  fight  at  the  drop  of  a  hat."  But 
when  theologians  of  a  certain  type,  filled  with  a  little 
cheap  and  pinchbeck  physical  science,  become 
aroused,  they  bring  to  mind  the  opening  words  of 
Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps  in  her  "  Singular  Life  "  : 
"  Perhaps  there  is  no  greater  curiosity  of  its  kind 
than  that  of  a  group  of  theological  students  discussing 
science." 

Only  recently  an  ecclesiastical  trial  has  been  going 
on — a  clergyman  of  this  type,  of  one  of  the  churches 
which  claims  to  date  its  hierarchy  back  to  Peter, 
having  "  written  a  book."  This  clergyman's  defence 
was  that  he  believed  the  Bible,  and  was  honest.  But 
he  wrote  in  his  book,  "  Jesus  did  not  succeed  because 
He  was  born  of  a  virgin  or  because  He  was  reported 
to  have  arisen  bodily  from  the  dead.  These  legends 
concerning  Him  are  the  result,  not  the  cause,  of  the 
marvellous  success  of  the  man.  These  stories  were 
told  of  Him  only  because  the  simple  folk  could  in  no 
other  way  adequately  express  their  conception  of  the 
greatness  of  Jesus.  Only  a  virgin-born  could  be  as 
pure  as  Jesus  ;  only  a  son  of  God  could  be  as  great 
as  Jesus  ;  only  a  life  more  powerful  than  death  could 
have  the  strength  of  Jesus." 

Now  see  his  statement,  which  follows,  of  what  he 
conceives  to  be  a  scientific  fact.  '  If  we  are  told  of  a 
certain  being  in  human  form,  born  of  a  human  mother, 
expressing  consciousness  in  human  speech,  living  a 
human  life  and  dying  a  human  death,  we  naturally 
predicate  of  such  a  one  a  human  fatherhood  as  well  as 
'a  human  motherhood,  for  universal  experience  bears 
witness  to  the  fact  that  everyone  who  is  the  child  of 


ioo  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

a  human  mother  is  also  the  child  of  a  human  father. 
To  overcome  this  presupposition,  which  is  established 
by  universal  experience,  would  require  testimony  of 
overwhelming  force.  The  burden  of  proof  lies  with 
those  who  deny,  not  with  those  who  assert,  the 
validity  of  universal  experience  to  establish  a  given 
fact." 

Of  course,  this  is  Hume's  infidel  argument  against 
miracles,  which  I  have  just  considered,  and  which  all 
men  of  science  have  long  since  abandoned,  because,  if 
it  were  valid,  science  itself  could  never  have  had 
a  beginning,  or,  if  science  had  been  miraculously 
planted  where  it  now  is,  it  could  not  advance  another 
step.  When  such  men  as  Alfred  Russel  Wallace, 
George  F.  Romanes  and  Thomas  H.  Huxley  unite 
in  demonstrating  its  fallacy,  and,  indeed,  absurdity, 
it  is  evidence  of  something  extremely  weak  in  the 
mental  constitution  of  a  clergyman  to  have  it 
revamped  in  the  hands  of  a  so-called  "  Christian,"  to 
attack  the  foundations  of  Christianity  !  For,  as  St 
Paul  has  said,  without  this  "  Our  hope  is  vain." 

Contrast  this  pseudo-scientific  argument  with 
Thomas  H.  Huxley's  noble  words  on  the  same  subject: 
"  Strictly  speaking,  I  am  unaware  of  anything  that 
has  the  right  to  the  title  of  an  '  impossibility  '  except 
a  contradiction  in  terms.  There  are  impossibilities 
logical,  but  none  natural.  A  '  round  square,'  a 
*  present  past/  '  two  parallel  lines  that  intersect,' 
are  impossibilities,  because  the  ideas  denoted  by  the 
predicates,  round,  present,  intersect,  are  contrary 
to  the  ideas  denoted  by  the  subjects,  square,  past, 
parallel.  But  walking  on  water,  or  turning  water 
into  wine,  or  procreation  without  male  intervention, 
or  raising  the  dead,  are  plainly  not  impossibilities  in 
this  sense." 

The  burden  of  proof  is  quite  the  opposite  from 
that  of  the  critic,  if  there  is  any  God  at  all,  with  any 
considerable  spiritual  power.  For  example,  if  Christ 
was  altogether  different  from  all  other  men  recorded 
in  history,  and  if  His  system  was  enormously  higher 
than  the  system  of  all  other  men,  then  the  "  pre- 
supposition "  is  that  He  was  created  differently,  either 


MIRACLES  101 

psychically,  or  physically,  or  both.  We  know  by  the 
testimony  of  two  contemporary  pagan  writers, 
Tacitus  and  Pliny  the  Younger,  that  Christus,  "  in 
the  reign  of  Tiberius,  was  put  to  death  as  a  criminal 
by  the  procurator,  Pontius  Pilate "  ;  and  that, 
"  Christians  were  accustomed  to  meet  before  day- 
break, and  sing  a  responsive  hymn  to  Christ  as  to 
God." 

Now  the  fallacy  in  the  Christian  critic's  argument 
is  that  the  "  simple  folk  could  in  no  other  way 
adequately  express  their  conception  of  the  greatness 
of  Jesus."  But  if  you  take  away  these  two  differences 
thus  denied,  there  was  no  greatness  in  Jesus  for 
"  simple  folk  "  ;  because  all  He  offered  them  was  the 
opportunity  to  be  crucified,  head  downwards  if  they 
preferred,  or  to  be  boiled  in  oil,  or  fed  to  wild  beasts 
or  the  like,  and  to  live  a  life  of  self-sacrifice  and 
meanness  on  earth,  and  get  nothing  for  it  afterwards  ; 
for  if  Christ  remained  dead  there  was  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  any  of  them  could  do  better.  The 
critic  has,  in  other  words,  put  the  cart  before  the 
horse.  If  these  phenomena  of  Christ  were  real, 
then  there  was  some  reason  to  sing  hymns  to  Him  as 
to  God,  but  if  not,  then  the  only  God  the  heathen 
knew  was  the  variety  of  them  in  their  mythology, 
which  were  certainly  quite  different.  There  is  ample 
evidence  of  the  resurrection ;  the  lost  gospels, 
recovered  in  fragments,  are  full  of  it,  and  the  mere 
course  of  events  narrated  everywhere,  the  trans- 
formation of  the  apostles,  the  spiritual  power,  the 
great  cyclic  movement  which  swept  all  the  diverse 
creeds  together  for  the  first  and  last  time  in  history, 
demonstrate  that  the  greatest  psychical  powers  were 
then  at  work,  and  science,  even  the  boldest  science, 
is  now  taking  heed.  It  is  a  bad  time  to-day  for  the 
theological  Christian  to  turn  his  head  aside,  and  spit. 

The  statement  in  the  Gospel  according  to  St 
Matthew  is  as  follows  : — "  Now  the  birth  of  Jesus 
Christ  was  on  this  wise  :  When  his  mother  Mary  had 
been  betrothed  to  Joseph,  before  they  came  together, 
she  was  found  with  child  of  the  Holy  Ghost  [see 
Revised  Version].  And  Joseph  her  husband,  being  a 


102  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

righteous  man,  and  not  willing  to  make  her  a  public 
example,  was  minded  to  put  her  away  privily.  But 
when  he  thought  on  these  things,  behold,  an  angel  of 
the  Lord  appeared  unto  him  in  a  dream,  saying, 
Joseph,  thou  son  of  David,  fear  not  to  take  unto  thee 
Mary  thy  wife  :  for  that  which  is  conceived  in  her  is 
of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Now  what  the  statement  of  this  rational 
theologian  in  his  own  book  really  means  is  that  the 
mother  was  a  deceiver  ;  the  husband  was  a  victim 
of  trickery  ;  the  son  was  illegitimate  ;  his  claims 
were  fraudulent ;  his  resurrection  a  lie  ;  and  his 
ascension  either  foolishness  or  blasphemy,  just  as 
this  critic  has  either  relegated  God  to  the  same  myth 
as  Christ,  or  still  left  him  as  a  surviving  superstition. 
The  crucifixion  is  the  only  scrap  of  reason  left,  and 
of  this,  the  same  line  of  reasoning,  and  assumption 
of  facts  a  priori ,  would  lead  him  to  say,  with  Tacitus, 
that  "  Christus  was  put  to  death  as  a  criminal,"  and, 
by  the  rational  Jewish  and  Roman  laws,  justly. 

Science,  when  properly  understood,  or  when 
looked  at  even  by  a  smatterer,  gives  no  countenance 
to  such  opinions  at  all.  Its  scepticism  is  much 
broader,  and  is  not  directed  against  these  few  alleged 
facts  of  Christianity,  but  against  the  basic  principle 
of  every  form  of  religion.  There  are  very  few  men 
of  science  who,  if  they  had  reached  the  stage  of 
acceptance  of  religion  at  all,  would  not  accept 
Christianity  with  all  its  marvels  (for  religion  itself  is  a, 
marvel,  only  to  be  accepted  by  the  recognition  of  the 
marvel  of  marvels,  mind  and  will,  in  man  and  outside 
of  man,  with  all  its  controlling  spiritual  powers), 
as  the  best,  highest,  most  scientific  and  common- 
sense  of  all  religions  of  all  time.  The  only  basis, 
in  fact,  which  such  critics  have,  is  that  attitude  of 
physical  causation  which  certain  theological,  and  most 
physico-scientific,  writers  have  united  in  accepting 
a  priori,  from  a  perverted  view  of  the  smallest  possible 
experience,  and  which,  as  Romanes  says,  "  grudges 
God  his  own  Universe." 

It  is  said  that  once  in  the  interior  of  Arkansas  a 
Baptist  congregation  expelled  their  preacher  for  lying. 


MIRACLES  103 

He  narrated,  on  his  return  from  a  clerical  visit  to 
Fort  Smith,  that  he  had  seen  men  making  ice  a  foot 
thick.  As  the  Lord  could  not  make  ice  more  than 
three  and  a  half  inches  thick  in  that  country,  in  the 
winter,  to  say  that  a  man  could  make  it  a  foot  thick 
in  the  summer  was  a  tale  so  contrary  to  reason  and 
experience  as  to  be  ridiculous,  and  the  preacher  was 
turned  out  of  the  church  for  his  preposterous  lying. 

Says  Benjamin  Kidd,  in  his  "  Social  Evolution  "  : 
"  A  rational  religion  is  a  scientific  impossibility, 
representing  from  the  nature  of  the  case  an  inherent 
contradiction  of  terms." 

Says  G.  H.  Lewes  (himself  an  advocate  of  Comte), 
in  his  "History  of  Philosophy":  'There  cannot, 
consequently,  be  a  religious  philosophy,  it  is  a  con- 
tradiction in  terms." 

And  Huxley,  in  The  Nineteenth  Century  of 
February  1889,  in  dealing  with  Comte's  "  Religion  of 
Humanity,"  asserted  that  he  would  as  soon  "  worship 
a  wilderness  of  apes." 

I  have  already  quoted  from  Huxley  that  "  It  is 
this  weighty  consideration,  the  truth  of  which  every- 
one who  is  capable  of  logical  thought  must  surely 
admit,  which  knocks  the  bottom  out  of  all  a  priori 
objections  either  to  ordinary  '  miracles/  or  the 
efficiency  of  prayer,  in  so  far  as  the  latter  implies  the 
miraculous  intervention  of  a  higher  power." 

Stewart  and  Tait,  in  their  "  Unseen  Universe/' 
say,  "  In  fine,  we  conceive  that  the  New  Testament 
plainly  asserts  that  what  Christ  accomplished  was 
not  in  defiance  of  law,  but  in  fulfilment  of  it." 

Lord  Kelvin  speaks  of  the  "  demonstrated  daily 
miracle  of  our  human  free-will,"  and  much  more,  of 
course,  of  the  divine  free-will. 

Says  Romanes,  in  his  posthumous  book, 
'  Thoughts  on  Religion  "  :  "  Modern  agnosticism  is 
performing  this  great  service  to  Christian  faith  :  it 
is  silencing  all  rational  scepticism  of  the  a  priori  kind. 
In  every  generation,  it  must  henceforth  become  more 
and  more  recognised  by  logical  thinking,  that  all 
antecedent  objections  to  Christianity  founded  on 
reason  alone  are  ipso  facto  nugatory."  And  again, 


104  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

"  It  is  a  general,  if  not  a  universal,  rule  that  those  who 
reject  Christianity  with  contempt  are  those  who  care 
not  for  religion  of  any  kind." 

Haeckel,  in  his  "  Riddle  of  the  Universe,"  says  : 
"  I  recommend  those  of  my  readers  who  are  interested 
in  these  momentous  questions  of  psychology  to  study 
the  profound  work  of  Romanes."  But  Romanes 
says  "  the  carnally-minded  would  not  be  affected  by 
any  amount  of  direct  evidence  even  though  one  rose 
from  the  dead — as  indeed  Christ  shortly  afterwards 
did." 

Professor  William  H.  Thomson,  in  his 
"  Materialism  and  Modern  Physiology  of  the  Nervous 
System,"  says  :  "  Incredulity  is  based  wholly  upon 
supposed  personal  experience,  and  will  believe  nothing 
else.  Hence,  it  cannot  be  reasoned  with,  as  it  is 
always  scornful  in  its  reliance  on  this  often  most 
fallacious  testimony.  .  .  .  This  mental  trait  often 
equally  illustrates  its  nature,  as  a  mental  weakness, 
by  the  same  persons  who  are  incredulous  about  some 
things,  exhibiting  in  other  things  the  most  facile 
credulity." 

The  space,  too  much,  I  fear,  which  I  have  given  to 
this  case,  is  not  on  account  of  its  individual  im- 
portance, which  is  trifling,  but  to  emphasise  the  fact 
that  one  totally  unequipped  to  deal  with  such 
questions  at  all  should  plunge  in,  in  the  gratuitous 
effort  to  disrupt  the  foundations  of  a  great  religion, 
following  alone  those  old-time  speculators  who  wrote 
by  a  priori  in  times  when  the  means  of  actual  know- 
ledge were  not  at  hand  ;  and  to  furnish  others  with  a 
warning  example  of  how  little  they  should  be  beguiled 
by  such  sporadic  and  self -conceited  writers ,  happily 
combining  in  one  effort,  directly  or  by  implication, 
the  "  blatant  ignorance  or  base  vulgarity  "  which 
Romanes  applied,  in  like  case,  to  those  "  who  care 
not  for  religion  of  any  kind,"  and  so  attack  that  one 
which  is  nearest,  and  the  head  which  is  highest. 
Such  men,  when  properly  understood,  are  not  danger- 
ous, they  are  useful. 

I  think  that  few  thoroughly  capable  men  of 
science,  philosophy  or  religion,  will  now  dispute  the 


MIRACLES  105 

conclusion  of  Romanes,  that  "  the  outcome  of  the 
great  textual  battle  [higher  criticism]  is,  impartially 
considered,  a  signal  victory  for  Christianity,"  and 
that  "  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans,  Galatians  and 
Corinthians,  have  been  agreed  upon  as  genuine,  and 
the  same  is  true  of  the  Synoptics  so  far  as  concerns 
the  main  doctrine  of  Christ  Himself." 

As  regards  the  so-called  miracle  of  Belshazzar's 
feast  (and  by  the  way,  archaeology  has  now  recovered 
Belshazzar  and  all  his  doings),  that  was  simply  a  case 
of  slate-writing  of  a  type  familiar  everywhere  to-day. 
Not  even  prevision  was  required,  as  the  enemy  was 
already  at  the  gates,  and  attacking,  and  the  end,  to 
an  observer,  was  obvious.  It  is  late  in  the  day  to 
discredit  the  possibility  of  slate-writing.  Sir  William 
Crookes  long  ago  reported  that  he  had  seen  a  detached 
hand  come  down  upon  a  table  before  him,  in  his  home, 
in  full  daylight,  striking  on  the  table  with  a  solid  body 
producing  loud  sounds.  While  much  slate-writing  is 
fraudulent,  there  is  an  ample  residuum  of  the 
genuine. 

Even  the  old  creation  narrative  in  the  first  chapter 
of  Genesis,  which  is  very  ancient  (but  certainly  not 
so  that  later  one  in  the  second  chapter),  bears  evidence 
of  divine  revelation  in  a  high  degree,  and  would  do 
so  in  a  still  higher  degree,  if  it  were  accurately 
translated.  Giving  Brachit  its  correct  sense,  when 
used  in  the  construct  state,  as  its  form  shows  it  to 
be  here  employed,  it  means  that  the  "  beginning  " 
simply  refers  to  the  beginning  of  the  series  of  events 
about  to  be  described,  just  as  old  nursery  tales  began, 
"  Once  upon  a  time,"  or  a  recipe  in  cooking,  "  First, 
catch  your  hare."  But  the  three  statements,  first, 
that  grass  grew  before  the  appearance  of  the  solar 
body  ;  second,  that  the  progression  was  from  grass 
to  aquatic  animals,  and  thence  to  land  animals  ;  and, 
third,  that  the  order  of  development  was  from  fish 
through  reptiles  and  then  birds,  and  thence  to 
mammals  (which  would  seem  to  the  uninstructed  to 
be  most  unnatural),  are  all  strictly  scientific,  but  were 
unknown  even  to  science  until  very  recently  indeed. 

I  may  add  that  the  fear  of  "  spontaneous  genera- 


io6  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

tion,"  so-called,  which  seems  to  haunt  the  religious 
mind  as  an  ever-present  danger,  is  all  unnecessary. 
Knowing  as  we  do  that  living  protoplasm  is  a  machine 
and  not  a  chemical  compound,  we  know  also  that  life 
appeared  comparatively  recently  on  earth,  and  that 
new  forms  of  life  are  constantly  arising,  so  that  some 
time  there  must  have  occurred  "  spontaneous  genera- 
tion," which,  by  the  way,  was  not  spontaneous  at  all, 
but  under  direct  control,  as  we  now  know  that  every- 
thing else  is.  Infact,the  careful  student  will  see  by  the 
language  used  in  the  beginning  of  Genesis  that  some 
such  "  spontaneous  process "  was  employed.  The 
ordinary  translation  is  accurate  enough  here,  except 
that  theword  translated  God  in  theoriginal  is  "  Aleim," 
a  plural,  and  used  with  the  plural  verb.  "  And  God 
said,  Let  the  earth  put  forth  grass,"  "  And  the  earth 
brought  forth  grass,"  "  And  God  said,  Let  the  waters 
bring  forth  abundantly  the  moving  creatures" 
(literally,  swarm  with  swarmers)  ;  these  were  the 
minute  forms  of  animal  life  in  the  seas.  Now  here 
comes  a  new  word,  "  God  created  the  great  sea- 
monsters  "  (literally,  fashioned  them}.  "  Let  the 
earth  bring  forth  the  living  creature."  These  were 
the  smaller  forms  of  terrestrial  life.  But  now  again, 
"  God  made  the  beast  of  the  field."  The  minute  and 
simple  beginnings  of  life,  we  thus  see,  are  treated 
quite  differently  from  these  later  and  higher  forms. 

With  a  God  "  in  whom  we  live,  and  move,  and 
have  our  being  "  there  is  nothing  spontaneous,  except 
in  our  own  mind,  and  in  God's  will. 

Benjamin  Kidd,  in  his  "  Social  Evolution,"  well 
says  that  "  the  deep-seated  instincts  of  society  have  a 
truer  scientific  basis  than  our  current  science." 

The  miracles  which  occur  within  the  confines  of  our 
own  bodies  are,  many  times,  as  inexplicable  as  any 
that  are  charged  as  occurring  outside.  The  mere 
process  of  metabolism  is  utterly  incomprehensible 
if  we  run  it  out  to  its  logical  conclusion  ;  and  the 
mental  miracles  are  equally  incomprehensible.  So 
hard-headed  a  materialist  as  Dr  Hammond,  whose 
"  Sleep  and  its  Derangements  "  was  written  from  the 
standpoint  that  "  when  the  brain  is  quiescent  there 


MIRACLES  107 

is  no  mind,"  was  compelled,  in  one  of  his  clinical  cases, 
to  say  of  a  somnambule,  "  I  was  entirely  satisfied  that 
she  did  not  see — at  least  with  her  eyes,"  and  again, 
"  the  sense  of  sight  was  certainly  not  employed,  nor 
were  the  other  senses  awake  to  ordinary  excitations." 
In  the  case  of  Mollie  Fancher,  in  Brooklyn,  N.Y., 
who  has  been  examined  during  many  years  by  the 
most  eminent  neurologists,  we  have  surely  a  living 
miracle.  She  has  for  many  years  been  blind,  par- 
alysed, without  apparent  sensation,  without  food  and 
almost  without  drink,  without  the  performance  of 
any  of  the  ordinary  bodily  functions,  and  yet  she  is 
bright,  clear,  intelligent,  and  I  have  recently  seen  a 
letter  received  from  her  most  beautifully  and 
correctly  written — and,  as  Dr  Hammond  said  of  his 
case,  "  She  did  not  see — at  least  with  her  eyes." 

The  phenomena  attending  the  case  of  the  Rev. 
C.  B.  Sanders,  D.D.,  of  Meridian ville,  Alabama,  pub- 
lished in  a  little  book,  in  1876,  entitled  "X+Y=Z; 
or  the  Sleeping  Preacher,"  are  a  series  of  miracles. 

Stewart  andTait  in  their  "  Unseen  Universe  "  dis- 
cuss the  question  of  miracles  very  fully.  They  say  : 
"  Let  us  here  pause  for  a  moment  and  consider  the 
position  into  which  science  has  brought  us.  We  are 
led  by  scientific  logic  to  an  unseen,  and  by  scientific 
analogy  to  the  spirituality  of  this  unseen.  In  fine, 
our  conclusion  is,  that  the  visible  universe  has  been 
developed  by  an  intelligence  resident  in  the  Unseen. 

"  Of  the  nature  of  this  intelligent  agency  we  are 
profoundly  ignorant,  as  far  as  science  is  concerned. 
So  far  as  science  can  inform  us,  it  may  consist  of  a 
multitude  of  beings,  as  the  Gnostics  have  supposed, 
or  of  one  Supreme  Intelligence,  as  is  generally  be- 
lieved by  the  followers  of  Christ.  As  scientific  men 
we  are  absolutely  ignorant  of  the  subject.  Nor  can 
we  easily  conceive  information  to  be  attainable 
except  by  means  of  some  trustworthy  communication 
between  the  beings  resident  in  the  Unseen  and 
ourselves.  It  is  absolutely  and  utterly  hopeless  to 
expect  any  light  on  this  point  from  mere  scientific 
reasoning.  Can  scientific  reasoning  tell  us  what  kind 
of  life  we  shall  find  in  the  interior  of  Africa,  or  in  New 


io8  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

Guinea,  or  at  the  North  Pole,  before  explorers  have 
been  there  ;  and  if  this  be  so,  is  it  not  utterly  absurd 
to  imagine  that  we  can  know  anything  regarding  the 
spiritual  inhabitants  of  the  unseen,  unless  we  either 
go  to  them  or  they  come  to  us  ?  " 

These  authors  cite  the  fact,  usually  studiously 
ignored  on  the  one  side  or  the  other,  but  never  on 
both,  for  obvious  reasons,  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
Christian  system  is  "  pre-eminently  one  of  intellec- 
tual liberty,  and  that  while  theologians  on  the  one 
hand  and  men  of  science  on  the  other,  have  each 
created  their  barriers  to  inquiry,  the  early  Christian 
records  acknowledge  no  such  barrier,  but  on  the  con- 
trary assert  the  most  perfect  freedom  for  all  the  powers 
of  man. 

"  We  have  now,"  they  continue,  "  reached  a  stage 
from  which  we  can  very  easily  dispose  of  any  scientific 
difficulty  regarding  miracles.  For  if  the  invisible 
was  able  to  produce  the  present  visible  universe 
with  all  its  energy,  it  could,  of  course,  a  fortiori,  very 
easily  produce  such  transmutations  of  energy  from 
the  one  universe  into  the  other  as  would  account  for 
the  events  which  took  place  in  Judea.  Those  events 
are  therefore  no  longer  to  be  regarded  as  absolute 
breaks  of  continuity,  a  thing  which  we  have  agreed 
to  consider  impossible,  but  only  as  the  result  of  a 
peculiar  action  of  the  invisible  upon  the  visible  uni- 
verse. 

"  When  we  dig  up  an  ant-hill,  we  perform  an  ( 
operation  which,  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  hill,  is 
mysteriously  perplexing,  far  transcending  their  ex- 
perience, but  we  know  very  well  that  the  whole  affair 
happens  without  any  breach  of  continuity  of  the  laws 
of  the  universe.  In  like  manner,  the  scientific  diffi- 
culty with  regard  to  miracles  will,  we  think,  entirely 
disappear,  if  our  view  of  the  invisible  universe  be 
accepted,  or  if  indeed  any  view  be  accepted  which 
implies  the  presence  in  it  of  living  beings  much  more 
powerful  than  ourselves.  It  is  of  course  assumed 
that  the  visible  and  invisible  are  and  have  been  con- 
stantly in  a  state  of  intimate  mutual  relation." 

The  final  conclusion  of  these  writers  is  the  follow- 


MIRACLES  109 

ing  :  ' '  The  truth  is,  that  science  and  religion  neither 
are  nor  can  be  two  fields  of  knowledge  with  no  possible 
communication  between  them.  Such  a  hypothesis 
is  simply  absurd.  There  is  undoubtedly  an  avenue 
leading  from  the  one  to  the  other,  but  this  avenue  is 
through  the  unseen  universe,  and  unfortunately  it 
has  been  walled  up  and  ticketed  with  '  No  road  this 
way,'  professedly  alike  in  the  name  of  science  at  the 
one  end,  and  in  the  name  of  religion  at  the  other." 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE   LIMITATIONS  OF   PHYSICAL  SCIENCE 

So  long  as  religion,  or  its  pervert  theology  rather,  bars 
the  avenue  against  science  with  the  dictum  of  dogma, 
and  the  lash  of  anathema,  its  followers,  like 
frightened  sheep,  will  hide  in  the  recesses  of  the  hills 
and  in  caves  ;  and  so  long  as  science,  or  its  pervert 
materialism  rather,  bars  the  way  against  spiritualism 
with  the  dictum  of  a  priori,  and  the  lash  of  super- 
stition, its  followers  will  also  hide  among  the  rocks, 
speculating  in  what  they  cannot  see,  and  listening 
for  the  shout  of  victory  which  never  comes,  and  never 
can  come,  from  physical  science.  For  physical 
science,  to  be  physical  science,  must  of  necessity  steer 
clear  of  the  non-physical ;  but  if  it  unfortunately 
does  more,  and  denies  it,  then  by  this  denial  it  cuts  off 
not  only  its  connection  with  all  the  universals,  but 
leaves  itself  bare  and  naked  when  any  of  the  great 
final  questions  are  asked. 

Huxley  found  the  realm  of  exact  physical  science 
very  small ;  as  I  have  already  quoted,  he  says  :  "If 
nothing  is  to  be  called  science  but  that  which  is ' 
exactly  true  from  beginning  to  end,  I  am  afraid  there 
is  very  little  science  in  the  world  outside  mathe- 
matics." 

But  mathematics,  considered  as  a  science,  is 
amenable  to  precisely  the  same  criticism.  Jevons, 
in  his  "  Principles  of  Science,"  says  :  "I  am  inclined 
to  find  fault  with  mathematical  writers  because  they 
often  exult  in  what  they  can  accomplish,  and  omit  to 
point  out  that  what  they  do  is  but  an  infinitely  small 
part  of  what  might  be  done.  They  exhibit  a  general 
inclination,  with  few  exceptions,  not  to  so  much  as 
mention  the  existence  of  problems  of  an  impractic- 

IIO 


PHYSICAL    SCIENCE  in 

able  character.  This  may  be  excusable  as  far  as  the 
immediate  practical  result  of  their  researches  is  in 
question,  but  the  custom  has  the  effect  of  misleading 
the  general  public  into  the  fallacious  notion  that 
mathematics  is  a  perfect  science,  which  accomplishes 
what  it  undertakes  in  a  complete  manner.  On  the  con- 
trary it  may  be  said  that  if  a  mathematical  problem 
were  selected  by  chance  out  of  the  whole  number  which 
might  be  proposed,  the  probability  is  infinitely  slight 
that  a  human  mathematician  could  solve  it.  Just  as 
the  numbers  we  can  count  are  nothing  compared  with 
the  numbers  which  might  exist,  so  the  accomplish- 
ments of  a  Laplace  or  a  Lagrange  are,  as  it  were,  the 
little  corner  of  the  multiplication  table,  which  has 
really  an  infinite  extent." 

And  this  concealment  of  the  difficult  problems,  or 
the  incompatible  phenomena,  is  not  confined  to  this 
science,  but  extends  to  every  science,  and  to  nearly 
every  popular  writer  on  these  sub j  ects .  In  astronomy 
the  inexplicable  and  apparently  irreconcilable  facts 
are  studiously  ignored,  and  yet  they  must,  unless 
explained,  eventually  overturn  the  whole  accepted 
cosmology  as  hitherto  taught.  For  example,  the 
movements  of  the  planets  around  the  sun  are  ingeni- 
ously deduced  from  a  series  of  purely  hypothetical 
movements  assumed  to  occur  within  a  slowly  con- 
densing gaseous,  and  finally  liquefying  and  solidifying, 
flattened  sphere,  rotating  in  void  space,  and  undis- 
turbed by  outside  attraction.  Yet  our  entire  solar 
system,  sun,  planets,  satellites  and  comets  together, 
is  itself  moving,  as  a  whole,  almost  directly  to  the 
north  with  a  velocity  and  momentum  enormously 
greater  than  all  the  internal  movements  of  the  system 
combined,  and  the  alleged  origin  of  the  planetary 
movements  is  not  only  inadequate  to  explain,  but 
irreconcilable  with,  this  drift  through  space  ;  for  all 
the  stars  of  space  are  themselves  drifting  in  every 
conceivable  direction  throughout  space,  without  re- 
gard to  each  other,  and  at  all  sorts  of  velocities.  This 
great  fact  alone  should  make  pause  in  the  theories 
propounded,  but  they  have  not  done  so,  and  there  are 
thousands  of  other  facts  equally  divergent,  but  they 


ii2  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

are  rarely  mentioned  or  commented  on  ;  and  the 
same  is  true  of  every  other  of  the  natural  sciences. 
The  late  President  of  the  British  Association,  Lord 
Salisbury,  as  I  have  already  said,  very  graphically 
pictured  mankind,  with  all  its  boasted  knowledge  and 
science,  as  occupying  a  small  oasis  of  dim  and 
flickering  light  in  the  midst  of  an  illimitable  ocean  of 
impenetrable  darkness. 

There  is  one  infallible  test  by  which  the  genuine 
man  of  science  may  always  be  known  :  if  he  devotes 
his  time  and  labour  to,  and  manifests  a  strong  interest 
in,  the  observation  and  investigation  of  those  residua 
which  are  not  in  accord  with  preconceived  opinion  ; 
in  the  pursuit  of  alleged  facts  which  do  not  fit  into  the 
scheme  of  hypotheses  and  theories  with  which  he  is 
familiar  ;  if,  in  fact,  he  is  earnestly  seeking,  at  all 
times,  for  evidence  against  himself  and  his  antecedent 
views  ;  then  that  man  is  a  genuine  follower  of  science. 

But  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  closes  his  eyes  and  ears 
against  alleged  facts,  and  declines  to  investigate  them, 
under  any  terms  and  conditions,  either  from  a  priori 
considerations  of  his  own,  or  else  from  lack  of  interest, 
that  man,  whatever  his  reputation  or  alleged  ac- 
quirements may  be  among  his  followers,  or  his  fellow- 
men,  is  not,  in  the  truest  and  best  sense,  a  genuine 
man  of  science. 

The  lines  of  human  advancement  are  strewn  with 
the  remains  of  such  men,  some  of  whom  were  reputed 
great  in  their  day  and  generation,  but  who  have  been 
abandoned  and  overrun  by  their  fellow-men  or  by 
posterity,  as  faithless  to  the  sacred  cause,  and  now  lie 
"  unhonoured  and  unsung,"  for  the  penalty  is  as 
inevitable  as  it  is  merciless,  which  truth  exacts, 
because  these  men  not  only  bring  true  science  into 
disrepute,  but  effectually  block  its  highways. 

As  Jevons  well  says  :  "In  the  writings  of  some 
recent  philosophers,  especially  of  Auguste  Comte,  and 
in  some  degree  John  Stuart  Mill,  there  is  an  erroneous 
and  hurtful  tendency  to  represent  our  knowledge  as 
assuming  an  approximately  complete  character.  At 
least  these  and  many  other  writers  fail  to  impress 
upon  their  readers  a  truth  which  cannot  be  too 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE  113 

constantly  borne  in  mind — namely,  that  the  utmost 
successes  which  our  scientific  method  can  accomplish 
will  not  enable  us  to  comprehend  more  than  an 
infinitesimal  fraction  of  what  there  doubtless  is  to 
comprehend.  Professor  Tyndall  seems  to  me  open 
to  the  same  charge  in  a  less  degree.  He  remarks  that 
we  can  probably  never  bring  natural  phenomena 
completely  under  mathematical  laws,  because  the 
approach  of  our  sciences  towards  completeness  may 
be  asymptotic,  so  that,  however  far  we  may  go,  there 
may  still  remain  some  facts  not  subject  to  scientific 
explanation.  He  thus  likens  the  supply  of  novel 
phenomena  to  a  convergent  series,  the  earlier  and 
larger  terms  of  which  have  been  successfully  disposed 
of,  so  that  comparatively  minor  groups  of  phenomena 
alone  remain  for  future  investigators  to  occupy 
themselves  upon." 

"  On  the  contrary,  as  it  appears  to  me,  the  supply 
of  new  and  unexplained  facts  is  divergent  in  extent, 
so  that  the  more  we  have  explained  the  more  there  is 
to  explain.  The  further  we  advance  in  any  general- 
isation, the  more  numerous  and  intricate  are  the 
exceptional  cases  still  demanding  further  treat- 
ment. .  .  .  We  may  rely  upon  it  that  immense, 
and  to  us  inconceivable,  advances  will  be  made  by 
the  human  intellect,  in  the  absence  of  any  catastrophe 
to  the  species  on  the  globe.  .  .  .  Any  one  of 
Mr  Darwin's  books,  admirable  though  they  all  are, 
consists  but  in  the  setting  forth  of  a  multitude  of 
indeterminate  problems.  Why  orchids  should  have 
been  formed  so  differently  from  other  plants,  why 
anything,  indeed,  should  be  as  it  is,  rather  than  in 
some  of  the  other  infinitely  numerous  possible  modes 
of  existence,  he  can  never  show.  The  origin  of 
everything  that  exists  is  wrapped  up  in  the  past 
history  of  the  universe.  At  some  one  or  more  points 
in  past  time  there  must  have  been  arbitrary  de- 
terminations which  led  to  the  production  of  things 
as  they  are." 

Professor  Huxley,  in  his  reply  to  Mr  Gladstone, 
referred  to  mathematics  as  a  perfect  science  ;  but 
Jevons  says  :  "  The  problems  which  are  solved  in  our 


H4  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

mathematical  books  consist  of  a  small  selection  of 
those  which  happen  from  peculiar  conditions  to  be 
solvable.  If  our  mathematical  sciences  are  to  cope 
with  the  problems  which  await  solution,  we  must  be 
prepared  to  effect  an  unlimited  number  of  successive 
integrations  ;  yet  at  present,  and  almost  beyond 
doubt  for  ever,  the  probability  that  an  integration 
taken  haphazard  will  come  within  our  powers  is 
exceedingly  small.  After  two  centuries  of  continuous 
labour,  the  most  gifted  men  have  succeeded  in 
calculating  the  mutual  effects  of  three  bodies  each 
upon  the  other,  under  the  simple  hypothesis  of  the 
law  of  gravity.  Concerning  these  calculations  we 
must  further  remember  that  they  are  purely  ap- 
proximate, and  that  the  methods  would  not  apply 
where  four  or  more  bodies  are  acting,  and  all  produce 
considerable  effects  upon  each  other.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  each  constituent  of  a  chemical 
atom  goes  through  an  orbit  in  the  millionth  part  of 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  In  each  revolution  it  is 
successively  or  simultaneously  under  the  influence  of 
many  other  constituents,  or  possibly  comes  into 
collision  with  them.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
mathematicians  have  the  least  notion  of  the  way  in 
which  they  could  successfully  attack  so  difficult  a 
problem  of  forces  and  motions.  As  Herschel  has 
remarked,  each  of  these  particles  is  for  ever  solving 
differential  equations,  which,  if  written  out  in  full, 
might  belt  the  earth." 

And  yet  these  are  the  "  simple  "  means  by  which 
materialists  seek  to  do  away  with  the  "  complex  " 
problems  of  psychology  ;  such  men  have  no  more 
true  comprehension  of  the  real  physical  facts  behind 
physical  phenomena  than  has  the  most  ignorant  and 
superstitious  Congo  African,  and  their  faith  is  of  the 
same  order  of  superstition,  and  equally  blinds  them 
to  facts  just  as  potent,  or  more  potent,  than  those 
they  assume.  It  is  of  these  incompatible  residua 
that  Sir  John  Herschel  has  said  that  almost  all  great 
astronomical  discoveries  have  been  disclosed  from 
the  examination  of  residual  differences.  "  Nothing," 
says  Jevons,  "  is  more  requisite  for  the  progress  of 


PHYSICAL  SCIENCE  115 

science  than  the  careful  reading  and  investigation  of 
such  discrepancies.  In  no  part  of  physical  science 
can  we  be  free  from  exceptions  and  outstanding  facts 
of  which  our  present  knowledge  can  give  us  no 
account.  It  is  among  such  anomalies  that  we  must 
look  for  the  clues  to  new  realms  of  facts  worthy  of 
discovery.  They  are  like  the  floating  waifs  which 
led  Columbus  to  suspect  the  existence  of  the  New 
World." 

And  yet  those  men  of  science  who  disdain  to 
examine  these  waifs,  which  obviously  point  to  the 
existence  of  some  new  world  of  science,  and  who 
heap  with  ridicule  and  opprobrium  those  who  would 
interrogate  these  waifs  and  learn  their  hidden  signifi- 
cance, are  not  genuine  men  of  science,  but  simply 
advocates  who  would  pervert  an  argument  and  conceal 
or  ignore  a  fact,  or  a  multitude  of  facts,  which  chanced 
to  fall  in  the  way  of  their  pet  theories,  or  their 
publicly  expressed  earlier  opinions.  As  St  John 
Stock  says  :  "  Suppose  I  do  find  the  unseen  to  be  the 
haunt  of  ungrammatical  ghosts,  what  then  ?  It  has 
its  high  life,  I  suppose,  as  well  as  its  low.  This  world 
itself  is  vulgar  or  practical  according  to  the  light 
in  which  we  look  at  it.  Do  not  reject  well-attested 
narratives  merely  because  they  sound  grotesque. 
He  is  not  a  faithful  lover  of  truth  who  would  not  go 
through  dirt  to  meet  her.  '  One  vision  of  her  snowy 
feet  is  worth  the  labour  of  a  life.'  " 


\ 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE   DARK  DAYS   OF   PSYCHOLOGY 

PROFESSORS  BALFOUR  STEWART  and  P.  G.  Tait,  in 
their  well-known  "  Unseen  Universe,"  in  the  very 
preface,  sound  a  warning  against  the  false  assump- 
tions of  pseudo-science.  "  As  professors  of  Natural 
Philosophy,"  they  say,  "  we  have  one  sad  remark  to 
make.  The  great  majority  of  our  critics  have  ex- 
hibited absolute  ignorance  as  to  the  proper  use  of  the 
term  Force,  which  has  had  one  and  only  one  definite 
scientific  sense  since  the  publication  of  the  '  Princi- 
pia ' ;  as  such  men  are  usually  among  the  exceptionally 
well-educated,  ignorance  of  this  important  question 
must  be  almost  universal." 

Ignorance  of  the  proper  sense  of  this  term  is 
ahnostnmversal  among  scientific  specialists  ;  to  find 
it  properly  used  we  must  go  to  the  broadest  men  of 
science  alone.  In  the  hands  of  narrower  writers  it 
seems  to  have  an  individual  identity  so  as  to~be 
mea^iirP-d  en  bloc^  likfi  \r.p.}  or  pnta.tr>f;s.  As  Sir  John 
Herschel.  Sir  William  Crooke.^  Romanes,  Lord 
Kelvin,  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  and  all  the  greater  physicists 
point  out,  we  know  nothing  of  abstract  force  at  all, 
any  more  than  we  know  of  abstract  light  or  heat,  and 
the  only  force  we  can  have  personal  knowledge  of  is 
that  of  volition,  and  as  our  own  volition  acts,  on  a 
minute  scale ,  much  in  accordance  with  the  actions, 
on  a  grand  scale,  which  we  see  all  around  us,  we  can 
easily  account  for  such  force  in  the  same  way,  but, 
as  Sir  John  Herschel  says,  "  constituted  as  we  are," 
we  cannot  do  so  otherwise. 

Force  is  but  a  manifestation,  and  we  only  recognise 
it  by  seeing  something  change  place,  or  else  infer  that 
something  can  change  place  ;  either  it  has  been  made 

116 


THE  DARK  DAYS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY    117 

to  change  place  or  it  can  be  made  to  change  place  ; 
and  the  manifestation  acts  upon  our  senses  just  as 
the  oscillatory  movement  of  the  luminiferous  ether 
at  high  velocity  acts  upon  our  retina,  and  we  call  this 
light  ;  or  as  a  like  strain  in  the  ether  gives  us  what  we 
call  electricity.  Jf  all  bodies  were  equally  endowed 
.with  "  strain  "  there  would  be  no  strain  ;  if~ill 
bodies  were  equally  endowed  with  "  force 


.would  be  no  force.  And  this  is  where  the  only  possfEle 
endowing  agent  comes  in,  the  only  agent  which  can 
differentiate  and  direct  force  or  strain,  and  that, 
so  far  as  we  know,  is  volition.  When  we  pass  that 
boundary,  we  enter  the  realm  of  fantastic  super- 
stition, in  which  both  observer  and  observed  are 
meaningless.  We  have,  in  such  case,  surely  and 
certainly,  reached  Hume's  ultimate,  nihilism,  which, 
as  I  have  said  elsewhere,  was  a  brilliant  reductio  ad 
absurdum  of  that  great  practical  jester,  for  he  did  not 
believe  it  himself,  and  said  so. 

This  march  of  physical  science  to  the  gap,  and  the 
starting  back  in  horror  at  the  abyss,  is  graphically 
and  humorously  told  by  Stewart  and  Tait,  as 
follows  :  — 

"  Ignoring  all  but  the  physical  universe,  and  apply- 
ing the  principle  of  continuity  to  its  phenomena,  the 
members  of  this  school  were  indubitably  led  to  most 
important  generalisations  regarding  the  method  of 
working  of  that  great  system.  They  even  drove 
back,  with  much  success,  and  very  properly,  certain 
detachments  of  theologians  who  had  occupied 
portions  of  the  field  in  an  unwarranted  manner.  So 
far  the  Genius  whom  they  had  summoned  up  ap- 
peared to  be  the  very  principle  of  order.  But  things 
wore  a  different  complexion  as  time  went  on.  It  was 
fancied  that  historical  Christianity  must  disappear, 
and  that  the  belief  in  the  reality  of  a  future  state 
must  follow  after  it.  They  were  surrendered.  But 
it  was  extremely  startling  when  the  Genius  invoked, 
not  content  with  what  he  had  already  devoured, 
broadly  hinted  that  the  wkole  visible  universe 
would  furnish  an  acceptable  sacrifice  —  then  even  the 
most  extreme  partisans  of  the  school  began  at  length 


n8  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

to  be  alarmed.  It  was  too  much  to  be  borne,  that 
a  Genius  summoned  up  in  the  very  name  of  order 
should  turn  out  to  be  a  demon  so  insatiate  as  this  ! 
Must  the  whole  visible  universe,  indeed,  arrive  at 
such  a  state  as  to  be  totally  unfit  for  the  habitation 
of  living  beings  ?  The  individual  they  were  content 
to  sacrifice,  perhaps  even  the  race,  but  they  would 
spare  the  universe.  Undoubtedly,  if  it  be  possible 
to  pity  men  who  could  so  easily  dispense  with 
Christianity  and  immortality,  they  had  at  length 
got  themselves  into  a  deplorable  dilemma.  For  the 
principle  they  had  invoked  was  absolutely  without 
pity,  and  in  the  most  heartless  manner  continued 
to  point  towards  sacrifice  of  the  visible  universe. 
This,  they  were  told,  was  only  a  huge  fire,  and  must 
ultimately  burn  itself  out.  Nothing  would  be  left 
but  the  ashes — the  dead  and  worthless  body  of  the 
present  system." 

This  was,  as  regards  Christianity,  and  religion 
generally,  the  attitude  of  many  of  the  leading  men  of 
*  physical  science  in  those  dark  days  about  1878,  only 
four  years  before  the  great  society  for  Psychical 
Research  flung  its  broad  banner  of  light  across  the 
blackness  of  that  night — nay,  not  the  blackness  of 
the  night,  but  the  blackness  of  the  mephitic  clouds 
which  hid  and  blinded  men  to  the  brilliant  sky,  lit 
with  countless  stars  and  constellations,  and  woven 
across  by  the  shuttles  of  planets,  and  satellites,  and 
comets,  and  meteoric  streams,  and  peopled,  who 
knows  ? — by  what  myriad  hosts  of  life  and  intellect. 

But  the  clouds  were  indeed  dark  in  those  dark 
days  and  nights.  Embryology  was  all  unborn  ;  the 
psychological  studies  of  microscopic  life  had  scarce 
begun,  and  were  all  misunderstood  ;  anthropology 
was  a  thing  of  shreds  and  patches  ;  comparative 
religion  was  degraded  by  supercilious  smiles,  or  the 
paraphernalia  of  an  exploded  devil ;  and  men's  eyes 
were  fixed,  if  fixed  at  all,  on  the  physical  basis  of  life, 
on  the  jargon  of  a  tumbling  chemistry,  and  intel- 
lectual men  were  "  immersed  in  merely  physical 
research." 

Had  a]new  Dean  Swift  emerged  then,  we  should 


THE  DARK  DAYS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY     119 

not  have  to  amuse  ourselves  with  his  embattled 
philosophers,  and  those  men  of  science  who  fought  to 
the  death  over  whether  cakes  and  vegetables  should 
be  cut  in  triangles  or  in  squares,  and  whose  most 
earnest  pursuits  were  to  extract  the  sunshine  out  of 
cucumbers  so  as  to  use  it  over  again. 

The  infection  was,  apparently,  almost  universal. 
Mallock,  in  his  satirical  "  New  Republic,"  makes  one 
of  his  most  brilliant  characters  say,  "  Christianity 
took  three  hundred  years  to  supplant  polytheism  •; 
atheism  has  taken  thirty  to  supplant  Christianity." 

Romanes  himself,  in  explaining  the  error  under 
which  he  lay  when  he  wrote  his  earlier  work  ("  The 
Candid  Examination  of  Theism"),  which  was  published 
in  1878,  says,  "  Moreover,  in  those  days,  I  took  it  for 
granted  that  Christianity  was  played  out,  and  never 
considered  it  at  all  as  having  any  rational  bearing  on 
the  question  of  Theism.  And  though  this  was  doubt- 
less inexcusable,  I  still  think  that  the  rational  stand- 
ing of  Christianity  has  materially  improved  since 
then.  For  then  it  seemed  that  Christianity  was 
destined  to  succumb  as  a  rational  system  before  the 
double  assault  of  Darwin  from  without  and  the 
negative  school  of  criticism  from  within.  Not  only 
the  book  of  organic  nature,  but  likewise  its  own 
sacred  documents,  seemed  to  be  declaring  against  it. 
But  now  all  this  has  been  materially  changed.  We 
have  all  more  or  less  grown  to  see  that  Darwinism  is 
like  Copernicanism,  etc.,  in  this  respect ;  while  the 
outcome  of  the  great  textual  battle  is,  impartially 
considered,  a  signal  victory  for  Christianity." 

We  all  know  how  Colonel  R.  G.  Ingersoll  was,  in 
his  lectures,  glad  to  point  out  in  prophecy,  that 
within  a  few  years  every  Christian  church  was  to  be 
converted  into  a  music  hall. 

Since  those  days  the  cautious  critic  has  noted  a 
great  change — what  would  be  a  miraculous  change 
were  we  not  able  to  see  clearly  now  that  the  elements 
of  disintegration,  which  began  by  disintegrating 
spiritualism,  bore  within  themselves  their  own  dis- 
integration, and  by  virtue  of  the  very  agency  which 
was  invoked  to  destroy  religion,  but  which,  instead, 


120  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

destroyed  its  own  old  materialism  for  ever,  and  left  it 
as  a  monument  of  that  dangerous  partial  knowledge 
from  which  men  are  now  turning  in  horror. 

Even  in  those  dark  days,  the  clearest-headed  fully 
perceived  the  utter  inadequacy  of  the  weapons  forged 
to  attack  the  spiritualism  of  the  unseen  universe. 

Mallock,  in  his  same  "  New  Republic,"  makes 
another  of  his  characters,  who  frequently  lectured 
before  the  Royal  Institution,  say,  "  Pray  do  not  think 
that  I  complain  of  this  generation  because  it  studies 
Nature.  I  complain  of  it  because  it  does  not  study 
her.  Yes,"  he  went  on,  "  you  can  analyse  her  in 
your  test-tubes,  you  can  spy  her  out  in  your  micro- 
scopes ;  but  can  you  see  her  with  your  own  eyes, 
or  receive  her  into  your  own  souls  ?  You  can  tell  us 
what  she  makes  her  wonders  of,  and  how  she  makes 
them,  and  how  long  she  takes  about  it.  But  you 
cannot  tell  us  what  these  wonders  are  like  when  they 
are  made.  When  God  said,  '  Let  there  be  light,  and 
light  was,  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good '  was  he 
thinking,  as  he  saw  this,  of  the  exact  velocity  it 
travelled  at,  and  of  the  exact  laws  it  travelled  by, 
which  you  wise  men  are  at  such  infinite  pains  to  dis- 
cover ;  or  was  he  thinking  of  something  else,  which 
you  take  no  pains  to  discover  at  all  ?  " 

Say  Stewart  and  Tait  :  "  It  is  only  within  the  last 
thirty  or  forty  years  that  there  has  gradually  dawned 
upon  the  minds  of  scientific  men  the  conviction  that 
there  is  something  besides  matter  or  stuff  in  the 
physical  universe,  something  which  has  at  least  as 
much  claim  as  matter  to  recognition  as  an  objective 
reality,  though  of  course  far  less  directly  obvious  to 
our  senses  as  such,  and  therefore  much  later  in  being 
detected.  So  long  as  men  spoke  of  light,  heat, 
electricity,  etc.,  as  imponderables,  they  merely 
avoided  or  put  aside  the  difficulty. 

"  When  they  attempted  to  rank  them  as  matter — 
heat,  for  instance,  as  caloric — they  at  once  fell  into 
errors,  from  which  a  closer  scrutiny  of  experimental 
results  would  assuredly  have  saved  them.  The  idea 
of  substance,  or  stuff  as  necessary  to  objective  existence 
very  naturally  arises  from  ordinary  observations  on 


THE  DARK  DAYS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY     121 

matter  ;  and  as  there  could  be  little  doubt  of  the 
physical  reality  of  heat,  light,  etc.,  these  matters  were 
in  early  times  at  once  set  down  as  matter. 

"  This  endeavour  to  assign  a  substantive  existence 
to  every  phenomenon  is,  of  course,  perfectly  natural ; 
but  on  that  account  very  likely  to  be  wrong." 

While  naturalists  turned  their  attention  only  to 
the  physical,  they  necessarily  ignored  everything 
non-physical,  and  this  led  to  a  still  greater  error,  for 
they  were  compelled  to  bridge  the  breaks  physically, 
for  they  had  nothing  else  to  work  with,  and  since  this 
was  impossible,  they  were  obliged  to  "  force  the 
balance-sheet,"  by  altering  figures  in  every  column, 
and  making  false  entries,  or  cancelling  those  entries 
incompatible  with  their  methods  and  purposes, 
their  methods  being  the  only  ones  known  to  them,  and 
their  purposes  merely  to  present  a  sum-total  which 
would  satisfy  the  uninstructed  observer. 

Professor  Shaler,  of  Harvard,  in  his  "  Interpreta- 
tion of  Nature,"  says :  "  That  which  the  naturalist 
sees  of  animal  mind  he  sees  at  an  immense  disadvan- 
tage. In  the  first  place,  he  cannot  perceive  the  mind 
of  any  being  directly  ;  he  can  only  infer  the  mental 
constitution  of  the  creature  from  its  acts,  and  these 
acts  are  performed  by  parts  that  are,  in  most  cases, 
utterly  unlike  those  with  which  he  is  accustomed  to 
see  emotion  expressed.  It  is  only  when  the  creatures 
belong  to  the  upper  part  of  the  animal  kingdom  and 
are  akin  to  himself  in  the  nature  of  their  emotions 
and  their  modes  of  expression,  that  he  can  attain 
much  certainty  in  his  observations.  Moreover,  the 
whole  training  of  the  naturalist,  as  it  is  now  pursued, 
tends  to  blind  him  to  the  observation  of  such  obscure 
things  as  the  mental  phenomena  of  nature.  Every 
pursuit,  if  it  becomes  devoted  to  its  ends,  creates  an 
idol  of  prejudice  in  the  mind.  With  the  naturalist  it 
is  the  idol  of  clearness,  what  we  might  perhaps  better 
call  the  idol  of  evident  fact,  that  is  created.  Ac- 
customed to  see  all  with  which  he  deals,  the  invisible 
is  sure  to  be  with  him  the  non-existent.  Every  now 
and  then  some  experience  tells  him  that  the  invisible 
element  in  the  operation  of  this  life  is  really  greater 


122 

than  the  visible  element.  He  sees,  for  instance,  the 
little  transparent  sphere  of  the  egg,  apparently  no 
more  specialised  than  a  small  bit  of  calf  s-foot  jelly, 
yet  he  knows  that  it  is  charged  with  the  history  and 
the  profit  of  a  hundred  million  years  of  life,  which  it 
will  hand  down  to  the  beings  which  are  to  come  from 
it.  Despite  these  lessons,  which  he  may  have  at  any 
hour  of  his  work,  the  naturalist  must  bow  before  the 
matter-of-fact,  and  shun  this  indefinite  field.  His  life 
must  be  in  the  open  day  of  plainly  seen  things.  There 
are  few  naturalists,  and  those  mainly  of  the  class  that 
did  not  enter  on  the  study  of  zoology  by  the  anatomic 
path,  who  have  shown  any  skill  in  the  study  of  the 
mental  parts  of  animals." 

With  an  equipment  like  this,  it  is  obvious  that 
these  physical  specialists  are  of  all  scientific  men 
those  least  qualified  to  discuss  the  spiritual.  Yet 
they  are  usually  the  first  and  loudest  to  deny  a  future 
life,  and  why  ?  Simply  because  they  know  nothing 
about  the  facts  which  pertain  to  the  solution.  They 
are  agnostic,  ignoramus,  and  by  virtue  of  not  seeing 
the  soul  in  the  dissected  carcass,  they  "  Rush  in  where 
angels  fear  to  tread." 

Professor  Shaler  clearly  sets  forth  their  utter  in- 
capacity to  even  discuss  such  questions,  as  men  of 
science. 

"  The  attitude  of  scientific  men,"  he  says,  " -to- 
wards the  doctrine  of  the  personal  immortality  of  the 
soul  appears  to  be  a  matter  of  much  interest  to  the 
public.  Every  teacher  in  this  field  of  inquiry  finds 
himself  subject  to  frequent  interrogations  as  to  the 
measure  of  his  belief  in  a  future  life,  and  he  readily 
discovers  that  his  answers  have  an  undue  weight  with 
those  who  hear  them.  There  is  hardly  sufficient 
reason  for  this  desire  to  ascertain  the  views  of 
naturalists  concerning  a  problem  which  clearly  lies 
beyond  their  province.  The  rules  of  their  calling 
limit  them  to  considerations  which  have  a  place  in  the 
phenomenal  world  alone.  If  they  go  far  from  the 
facts  with  which  they  have  to  deal,  they  transgress 
the  limits  of  their  clearly  defined  field,  and  enter 
wildernesses  which  they  have  no  right  to  tread.  If 


THE  DARK  DAYS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY    123 

they  essay  journeys  there,  they  must  make  them 
without  the  semblance  of  authority." 

Again,  "  The  sturdy,  self-satisfied  denials  of  im- 
mortality ;  the  confident  statements  of  men  who  said 
there  was  no  soul  because  they  could  not  find  it  with 
the  knife  or  weigh  it  in  the  balance,  were  put  forth  in 
the  days  when  naturalists  had  but  begun  their  in- 
quiries in  the  phenomenal  world." 

"  There  is  abundant  room,"  says  this  eminent  man 
of  science,  "  for  spiritual  truths  in  the  universe.  In 
fact,  our  modern  physical  science  is  ever  tending 
away  from  the  crude  conceptions  of  matter  held  by 
the  ancients.  It  seems  now  as  if  the  end  of  the  long 
dispute  between  the  materialists  and  the  spiritualists 
may  soon  come  to  an  end  through  the  growing  con- 
viction of  physicists  that  all  matter  is  but  a  mode  of 
action  of  energy  ;  that  the  physical  universe  is  not 
a  congeries  of  atoms,  which  are  inert  except  when 
stirred  by  the  dynamic  powers  ;  that  all  phenomena 
whatever  are  but  manifestations  of  powers.  In 
other  words,  the  students  of  nature  are  now  nearer  to 
those  who  have  trusted  to  the  divining  senses  than 
ever  before." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  CREDULITY  OF  INCREDULITY 

THE  earnest  student,  the  true  student,  of  science  must 
not,  cannot,  be  deterred  from  her  pursuit  by  any 
grotesque  narratives  or  absurd  beliefs  ;  it  is  here 
pre-eminently  that  the  field  of  genuine  science  lies. 
Tap  nature  where  you  will,  it  is  inscrutable  until 
investigated,  and  the  inscrutable  means  either  the 
superstitious  or  the  unconquered.  If  the  former,  you 
will  never  know  it  until  you  have  conquered  it,  and 
until  conquered  the  whole  field  is  inscrutable.  A 
priori  is  the  only  fatal  attitude  ;  that  kills  at  the  first 
footfall.  It  is  not  only  among  the  vulgar  that  the 
pursuer  meets  with  the  grotesque  ;  if  he  would  avoid 
that,  he  must  steer  clear  of  science. 

"  Scientific  method,"  says  Jevons,  "  must  begin 
and  end  with  the  laws  of  thought,  but  it  does  not 
follow  that  it  will  save  us  from  encountering  in- 
explicable, and  at  least  apparently  contradictory 
results.  The  nature  of  continuous  quantity  leads  us 
into  extreme  difficulties.  Scientific  method  leads  us 
to  the  inevitable  conception  of  an  infinite  series  of 
successive  orders  of  infinitely  small  quantities.  If  so, 
there  is  nothing  impossible  in  the  existence  of  a  myriad 
universes  within  the  compass  of  a  needle's  point,  each 
with  its  stellar  systems,  and  its  suns  and  planets,  in 
number  and  variety  unlimited.  Science  does  nothing 
to  reduce  the  number  of  strange  things  that  we  may 
believe.  When  fairly  pursued  it  makes  absurd  drafts 
upon  our  powers  of  comprehension  and  belief." 

Under  such  circumstances,  it  seems  quite  as  easy, 
at  least,  to  accept,  as  a  phenomenon  of  rational 
psychology,  even  the  ghost  of  Benjamin  Franklin 
as  a  mere  survival  from  his  conceded  earthly  existence 

124 


THE  CREDULITY  OF  INCREDULITY    125 

as  it  would  be  to  run  down  this  infinite  gamut  of 
infinitely  diminishing  solar  systems,  by  pursuing  a 
detailed  description  carried  onward  to  its  logical  con- 
clusion, which  is  obviously  nowhere  at  all,  though 
undeniably  scientific.  And  as  for  human  testimony, 
a  thousand  credible  witnesses  will  stand  up  for  the 
ghost  where  not  one  will  appear  as  the  personal 
witness  of  a  single  infinitesimal  planet  out  of  even  the 
largest  of  the  galaxies  which  constitute  any  one  of  the 
myriads  of  ever-diminishing  universes  circling  within 
the  compass  of  a  needle's  point.  And  yet  these 
dogmatic  pseudo-physicists,  and  penny-a-liners  of 
science,  talk  with  contempt  of  mankind's  credulity, 
blind  faith,  superstition,  as  though  everything  inside 
their  own  boundaries  was  absolutely  plain  and  clear 
and  comprehensible — and  very  simple  and  coherent 
indeed. 

The  late  Professor  De  Morgan,  with  stinging 
sarcasm,  says  of  these  very  people  :  "  The  over- 
bearing minister  of  nature,  who  snaps  you  with  his 
Unphilosophical  /  Unscientific  !  Degrading  /  as  the 
clergyman  once  frightened  you  with  Infidel,  is  still  a 
recognised  member  of  society,  wants  taming,  and  will 
get  it.  He  wears  a  priest's  cast-off  garb,  dyed  to 
escape  detection . ' ' 

On  the  contrary,  read  the  noble  words  of  Laplace, 
in  his  "  Analytic  Theory  of  Probabilities." 

1  We  are  so  far  from  knowing  all  the  agents  of 
nature,  and  their  various  modes  of  action,  that  it 
would  not  be  philosophical  to  deny  any  phenomena 
merely  because  in  the  actual  state  of  our  knowledge 
they  are  inexplicable.  This  only  we  ought  to  do  :  in 
proportion  to  the  difficulty  there  seems  to  be  in  ad- 
mitting them  should  be  the  scrupulous  attention  we 
bestow  on  their  examination." 

It  is  not  the  scrupulous  attention  that  we  deplore 
but  the  refusal  to  give  any  attention  at  all.  The 
phenomena  in  question  we  know  are  difficult,  and 
often  elusive  ;  but  their  importance,  if  established, 
there  is  no  living  person  who  can  dispute,  nor  that  they 
are  transcendently  the  most  important  in  the  whole 
realm  of  human  knowledge.  All  that  psychology 


126  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

asks  is  to  be  examined  and  investigated  ;  the  conse- 
quences are  abundantly  able  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves. Nor  is  the  investigation  especially  difficult,  as 
a  scientific  task. 

Says  Arago  (Annual  Bureau  of  Longitudes) : 
"  Doubt  is  a  proof  of  modesty,  and  it  has  rarely 
injured  the  progress  of  the  sciences.  One  would 
not  be  able  to  say  as  much  of  incredulity.  That 
one  who,  outside  pure  mathematics,  pronounced  the 
word  impossible,  is  wanting  in  prudence.  Reserve 
is  above  all  a  necessity  when  he  is  dealing  with  the 
animal  organisation." 

And  Abercrombie,  in  his  "  Intellectual  Powers," 
says  :  "  An  unlimited  scepticism  is  the  part  of  a  con- 
tracted mind,  which  reasons  upon  imperfect  data,  or 
makes  its  own  knowledge  and  extent  of  observation 
the  standard  and  test  of  probability.  In  receiving 
upon  testimony  statements  which  are  rejected  by  the 
vulgar  as  totally  incredible,  a  man  of  cultivated  mind 
is  influenced  by  the  recollection  that  many  things  at 
one  time  appeared  to  him  marvellous  which  he  now 
knows  to  be  true,  and  he  thence  concludes  that  there 
may  still  be  in  nature  many  phenomena  and  many 
principles  with  which  he  is  entirely  unacquainted. 
In  other  words,  he  has  learned  from  experience  not  to 
make  his  own  knowledge  his  test  of  probability." 

In  fact,  this  denial  without  practical  knowledge, 
by  so-called  scientific  specialists  is,  look  at  it  as  we 
may,  simply  vulgar  ;  as  vulgar  as  for  those  of  the 
"  new-rich  "  (whom  we  ridicule),  when  raised  from 
indigence  and  ignorance  suddenly  into  an  atmosphere 
far  above  their  training  and  capacity,  to  criticise  the 
art,  literature  or  acquirements  of  their  new  surround- 
ings. You  would  be  astonished  to  know  how  much 
vulgarity  of  this  sort  exists  among  so-called  scientific 
specialists  who  go  outside  their  own  narrow  feeding- 
grounds.  Occasionally  they  get  to  quarrelling  among 
themselves,  and  then  everybody  can  see  and  laugh 
at  the  maverick  strain. 

The  dogmatism  of  theology  finds  a  full  counter- 
part and  co-worker  in  her  newer  sister,  dogmatic 
science.  The  scientific  pursuit  is  a  noble  one  to 


THE  CREDULITY  OF  INCREDULITY    127 

espouse,  the  work  is  grand  beyond  comparison,  the 
fruits  are  already  priceless  and  vast,  but  specialties 
always  narrow  the  field  of  vision  of  the  specialist, 
and  the  time  for  dogmatism  has  not  yet  come,  and 
will  not  come  for  ages,  if  at  all. 

As  Professor  Jevons  well  says  :  "It  might  be 
readily  shown  that  in  whatever  direction  we  extend 
our  investigations  and  successfully  harmonise  a  few 
facts,  the  result  is  only  to  raise  up  a  host  of  other 
unexplained  facts." 

How  fatal  to  the  cause  of  scientific  advancement 
then,  and  how  prolific  in  still  greater  difficulties,  must 
be  the  effort  to  conceal  those  unpalatable  facts  which 
do  not  fall  into  the  category  of  some  half-wrought-out 
hypothesis,  or  to  ignore  those  which  alone  would 
make  the  work  worth  doing,  or  save  it  from  merited 
condemnation.  Alfred  Russel  Wallace  applies  this 
criticism  with  stunning  force  against  Dr  Carpenter, 
referring  to  the  close  of  the  fourth  chapter  of  his 
elaborate  work  on  "  Mental  Physiology,"  in  which 
he  nevertheless  boldly  attempts  to  settle  the  whole 
question  of  the  reality  of  such  facts. 

"  It  is,  we  suppose,  owing  to  his  limited  space 
that,  in  a  work  of  over  700  pages,  none  of  the  well- 
attested  facts  opposed  to  his  views  could  be  brought 
to  the  notice  of  his  readers." 

The  names  and  facts  thus  suppressed  or  ignored 
by  Dr  Carpenter  went  to  the  very  heart  of  Carpenter's 
book.  No  honest  man  could  have  passed  them  over 
without  mention,  or  an  attempt  even  to  controvert 
them  ;  but  Dr  Carpenter  was  unable  to  controvert 
these  already  published  facts,  for  they  were  uni- 
versally known,  and  so  "  saved  his  face,"  as  the 
Chinese  say,  at  the  expense  of  his  scientific  standing, 
and  his  lasting  fame.  The  men  of  science  referred  to 
by  Mr  Wallace,  who  were  entirely  ignored  by  Dr 
Carpenter,  were  such  as  Dr  Gregory,  Professor  of 
Chemistry  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  Dr  Ragsky, 
Professor  of  Chemistry,  Vienna,  Dr  Huss,  Professor 
of  Clinical  Medicine,  Stockholm,  and  Physician  to  the 
King,  Dr  Endlicher,  Professor  of  Botany,  Vienna, 
Dr  Diesing,  Curator  in  the  Imperial  Academy  of 


128  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

Natural  History,  at  Vienna,  Pauthot,  Dean  of  the 
College  of  Medicine  at  Lyons,  Gamier,  Physician  of 
the  Medical  College  of  Montpelier,  Sir  Walter  G. 
Trevillian,  Dr  Mayo,  Professor  of  Anatomy  and 
Physiology,  King's  College,  and  of  Comparative 
Anatomy  in  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  Dr 
Haddock,  Dr  Edwin  Lee,  Mr  H.  G.  Atkinson,  F.G.S., 
Dr  Clark,  and  a  number  of  others. 

When  Dr  Carpenter  wrote  his  "  Mental 
Physiology,"  the  series  of  wonderful  books  by  Dr 
Alfred  T.  Schofield,  M.R.C.S.,  commencing  with  his 
"Force  of  Mind,"  had  not  appeared,  crowded  with 
citations,  as  they  are  on  every  page  from  the  highest 
authorities  (see  his  "  Unconscious  Mind "),  nearly 
every  one  of  which  would  have  negatived  all  the  seven 
hundred  pages  of  Dr  Carpenter's  "Mental  Physiology; 
but  that  was  Carpenter's  good  fortune,  while  living, 
and  very  bad  fortune,  indeed,  when  dead. 

Rnt  if  is  not  only  thp  rrp.Hnlity  of  sr.iftntifir. 
specialists,  and  their  consequent  unfairness  for 
credulity  is  ever  unfair,  that  has  retarded  the  growth 
of  scientific  investigation  and  acceptance  ol  spirjgtal- 
ism,  but  the  credulity  and  ignorance  of  many  of  those 
who  are  most  devoted  to  spiritualism.  Those  who 
deny  everything  without  investigation  are  well 
.matched,  by  those  who  accept  everything  without 
investigation.  Mrs  Ross  Church  (who  aided^Sir 
William  Crookes  in  his  studies  of  the  KatiiTlCirig 
Phenomena),  says  these  latter  "  are  generally  people 
of  low  intellect,  credulous  dispositions,  and  weak 
nerves."  How  shall  we  designate  the  former  class  ? 
Shall  we  call  them  of  high  intellect,  incredulous  dis- 
positions, and  strong  nerves^?  We  must  guardTour 
terminology  if  we  should  attempt  to  do  this,  because 
incredulity  itself  is  simply  credulity:  There  is  "ho 
real  difference  between  them.  To,  believe  a  thing  is 
to  believe  that  thing,  and  to  disbelieve  it  is  to  believe 
an  opposite  tEmg,  and,  unless  after  a  fair  trial  and 
evidence  as  complete  as  possible,  one  credulity^  is 
just  53,5  credulous,  weak-nerved,  and  of  as~low  in- 
tellect as  the  other  cfeclulity.  How  many  of  you 
have  thought  of  this  dominating  truth  ?  Yet  it  is 


THE  CREDULITY  OF  INCREDULITY     129 

fully  recognised  by  science,  as  Arago  long  since 
stated  :  the  only  correct  attitude,  until  the  evidence 
has  been  fully  heard,  is  doubt,  or  "  suspension  of 
judgment,"  as  it  is  called ;  from  that  attitude 
evidence,  as  it  is  presented  and  accumulates,  will,  or 
ought  to,  incline  the  mind  to  one  side  or  the  other. 
But  the  classes  I  have  referred  to,  the  pro  and  con  of 
credulity,  as  I  may  call  them,  are  altogether  and 
equally  outside  the  pale  of  science.  Not  that  there 
is  not  much  in  the  public  phenomena  and  per- 
formances of  spiritualism  which  is  fraudulent  and 
tricky,  nor  that  the  alleged  results  are  not  often  the 
productions  of  those  who  have  made  a  study  of  de- 
ceiving the  people,  and  trifling  with  the  holiest 
emotions  of  sorrowing  and  bereaved  friends.  But 
this  is  true  of  all  things  which  come  under  the 
cognisance  of  mankind,  and  yet,  notwithstanding, 
the  truth  can  be  obtained  and  recognised  even  in  a 
world  so  deceptive  at  first  sight  as  this  world  is.  On 
this  ability  to  sift  out  truth  is  based  the  whole  system 
of  our  jurisprudence,  whereby,  out  of  an  untruthful 
witness  even,  by  care  and  skill,  the  unquestionable 
truth  can  be  wrung.  It  is  on  the  accumulation  and 
co-ordination  of  evidence,  independent  evidence,  that 
much  dependence  is  justly  placed — it  is  incredible 
that  a  vast  multitude  of  witnesses,  of  all  ages  and  all 
countries,  should  always  be  able  to  lie  in  precisely 
the  same  way  about  an  innumerable  multitude  of 
apparently  accidental  facts.  The  same  principles 
which  we  apply  universally  in  acquiring  and  extend- 
ing all  knowledge,  are  equally  applicable  here,  and 
the  case  is  greatly  simplified  by  the  fact  that  the 
experiments  can  be  repeated,  and  similar  results 
obtained,  by  means  of  careful  and  continued  attempts 
among  any  few  selected  friends  ;  between  man  and 
wife,  and  through  human  subjects  with  which  studied 
deception  would  be  abominable,  and  incredible  ;  and 
in  a  host  of  ways  by  which  fraud  and  deception  can 
be  as  rigorously  excluded  as  in  any  other  branch  of 
life  and  knowledge — nay  more,  for  here  we  meet 
with  conditions  which  prove  the  facts  by  the  silent 
sense  of  conviction  or  evidence  within  each  one  of  us. 


130  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

For  men  of  science  to  ignore  all  this — to  walk  in 
darkness,  when  only  their  own  self-held  cloaks  with- 
hold the  light,  to  work  offal  into  food,  when  the  whole 
universe  teems  with  living  sustenance,  to  juggle  with 
words  and  phrases,  to  conceal,  distort  or  prevaricate 
in  order  to  support  a  preconceived  hypothesis,  or 
establish  an  a  priori  proposition — that  is  what 
spiritualists  object  to.  And  the  dark,  disgraceful 
day  is  rapidly  passing  away.  The  momentum  has 
become  so  great  now,  that  the  danger  is  of  too  swift 
an  advancement,  and  spiritualists  are  themselves 
asking  each  other  in  anxiety — what  shall  be  done 
when  the  great  rush  for  cover  comes  ? — when  those 
who  have  so  long  stood  in  the  forefront  of  the  opposing 
forces  have  come  over  en  masse,  and  with  that  easy 
assurance,  with  which  we  are  all  so  well  acquainted, 
cry  out  that  they  have  always  believed  in  its  truth, 
and  always  said  so,  and  that  their  great  and  only 
cause  of  complaint  has  been  that  the  spiritualists 
themselves  never  went  half  far  enough  ? 


CHAPTER    XVII 

PHYSICAL  SCIENCE  CANNOT  EXPLAIN  ITS  OWN   BASES 

IN  considering  the  achievements  of  science,  or  of  the 
physical  sciences  in  general,  I  do  not  wish  it  to  be 
understood  that  nothing  has  been  gained  in  these 
various  sciences.  On  the  contrary,  the  gains  have 
been  enormous,  and  have  immeasurably  advanced 
life  and  civilisation.  But  these  are  not  the  sort  of 
achievements  of  which  the  scientific  specialists  feel 
especially  proud,  or  of  which  they  boast,  for  these 
achievements  are  those  of  systematic  weighing  and 
measuring — that  is  to  say,  simply  descriptive — and  do 
not  advance  our  actual  knowledge  of  nature  to  any 
considerable  extent,  while  they  very  much  facilitate 
the  business  and  system  of  life. 

Wherein  science  has  failed  in  achievement  is  in 
dealing  with  the  very  foundations  on  which  it  stands. 
In  every  case  it  starts  with  a  simple  superstitious 
assumption,  which  it  never  seeks  to  account  for,  and 
having  made  this  assumption  of  what  it  does  not 
understand,  and  which  attracts  little  attention 
because  it  is  about  something  familiar  even  to  the 
unscientific,  then  science  takes  the  physical  mani- 
festations of  the  moment,  presenting  themselves  at 
hand,  and  simply  gives  us  their  weights  and  measure- 
ments. 

This  of  course  does  not  touch  the  primary  con- 
ceptions, or  their  assumptions,  and  in  consequence 
(as  in  the  overturning  consequent  on  the  newer 
discoveries  relating  to  matter,  radium,  electricity,  the 
X-rays,  etc.,  etc.),  when  these  residua,  or  foundations 
rather,  have  been  actually  investigated,  the  whole 
system  of  weights  and  measurements  requires  re- 
vision, and  the  older  assumptions  have  to  be  aban- 


132  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

doned,  and  a  new  start  made,  with  other  assumed 
bases,  and  other  interpretations  to  account  for  the 
phenomena  of  the  now  assumed  new  bases. 

For  example,  granting  gravitation,  science  has 
given  us  its  scale  of  attractions,  and  the  tables  or 
rules  of  its  various  physical  phenomena,  but  it  does 
not  explain  what  gravitation  is  or  can  be. 

Granting  solid  bodies,  it  gives  us  their  weights, . 
colours,  hardness,  chemical  properties,  combinations, 
etc.,  etc.,  but  it  does  not  explain  what  a  solid  body  is 
or  can  be. 

So  of  liquids,  and  so  of  gases  ;  so  of  all  the  hard, 
basic  facts  of  nature  ;  its  achievements  here  are 
infinitesimal,  but  in  giving  what  are  called  the  laws 
of  this,  or  the  laws  of  that,  science  is  profuse,  but  the 
different  behaviour  of  these  various  substances  do  not 
constitute  laws,  any  more  than  the  behaviour  of  cats 
and  dogs,  and  not  half  as  much  as  pertains  to  an 
Arctic  animal  which,  brown  in  summer,  turns  white 
in  winter,  or  how  a  peacock's  tail  builds  up  a  series  of 
perfect  eyes  out  of  hundreds  of  separate  feathers, 
each  with  its  thousands  of  separate  branches.  It 
is  descriptive  science  pure  and  simple  which  it  really 
deals  with,  like  descriptive  botany,  or  descriptive 
mineralogy,  or  what  was  formerly  called  "  natural 
history,"  while  we  think  it  is  dealing  with  real  things. 

Now  this  natural  history  will  illustrate  what  I 
mean.  Until  recently  the  study  of  the  forms  and 
structures,  the  varieties,  the  species,  the  genera,  and 
the  habits  and  customs  of  animals,  constituted  what 
went  under  the  name  of  "  natural  history."  It  was 
extremely  useful  to  man  ;  it  planned,  and  mapped 
out,  and  illustrated,  as  geographers  do,  the  political 
divisions  as  it  were,  the  habits  and  customs,  skin, 
joints  and  hair  and  the  like,  of  animal  life  ;  but  it 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  "  how  and  why  "  of  these 
various  creatures. 

When,  finally,  the  ultimate  questions  of  animal  life 
came  to  be  searched  out  (almost  accidentally),  then 
biology  quite  unexpectedly  popped  into  existence, 
and  as  soon  as  biology  became  a  living  thing,  it  led 
the  searchers  back  and  back,  and  suddenly  and 


UNEXPLAINED    BASES  133 

inevitably  struck  upon  psychology,  and  biology  has 
been  travelling  along  with  psychology  ever  since,  and 
always  will  be. 

It  resulted  simply  from  the  running  out  of  clues 
without  prejudice — that  is,  without  an  a  priori — but 
which  running  out  science  and  theology  had  both 
sternly  forbidden.  When,  a  century  ago,  Lamarck 
set  his  attention  to  the  study  of  invertebrate  animals 
which  study  science  itself,  in  the  way  it  studied 
animals,  deemed  praiseworthy,  this  great  constructive 
as  well  as  analytical,  man  of  science  (and  these  two 
qualities  are  extremely  rare  in  their  union  in  any  one 
person)  was  inevitably  carried  back  into  biology, 
and  he  was  the  first  who  dared  it.  But  Cuvier,  then 
the  greatest  living  authority  on  natural  history, 
crushed  Lamarck  by  his  terrific  power  over  the 
scientific  world,  and  above  him  the  whole  theological 
Catholic  world  piled  its  mountains  of  "  blasphemy," 
the  Protestant  world  of  "impiety,"  and  Lamarck  and 
his  teachings  lay  flattened  out  and  abandoned  be- 
neath the  cairn, till  Charles  Darwin,  amid  like  obloquy, 
dug  him  out  of  his  grave,  and  with  sterner  mien  and 
greater  help  "  faced  a  frowning  world,"  bearing  the 
same  standard,  a  half-century  later. 

At  this  time  theology  was  a  little  frightened,  and 
science  and  materialism  had  gone  into  partnership, 
and  infidelity  had  a  controlling  interest  in  the  concern. 
And  just  as  Lamarck  was  driven  back  to  the  discovery 
of  a  providence  superior  to  material  forms,  and  a  God 
who  made  and  executed  continuously  His  own  will 
in  and  before  His  own  creatures,  so  he  came  upon 
the  greater  and  lesser  individual  psychisms  of  the 
universe — and  among  them  what  belongs  to  spiritual- 
ism— and,  hence,  all  those  scientific  and  theological 
tears,  for  both  the  materialistic  scientific,  and  the 
materialistic  theological,  world  well  foresaw  the  in- 
evitable outcome  of  his  discoveries. 

Concerning  the  true  scientific  scope  of  modern 
physical  science,  as  contrasted  with  its  self-assumed 
extensions  into  what  it  cannot  touch,  and  for  which 
it  has  no  physical  data,  or  rather  for  such  imagined 
extensions  on  the  part  of  mere  specialities,  or  even  the 


134  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

greedy  and  superstitious  public  (superstitious  when 
they  want  to  believe  what  they  would  like  to  believe), 
I  will  quote  the  following  from  Professor  Graham's 
"  Creed  of  Science  "  : — "  Science  is  often,  in  our  days, 
characterised  as  atheistic.  What  is  the  justice  of  the 
charge  ?  It  depends  on  what  we  mean  by  science 
and  what  by  atheism.  If  we  mean  by  science,  as  in 
strictness  we  should,  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of 
phenomena,  their  regular  sequences  and  conjunctions, 
the  discovery  of  which  is  the  business  of  science,  then 
science  is  not  and  cannot  be  atheistic,  no  matter  what 
meaning  we  attach  to  '  atheistic.'  But  if  we  mean 
by  science,  what  those  who  bring  forward  the  charge 
mostly  mean — namely,  some  of  the  philosophies  pro- 
fessedly based  on  the  conclusions  of  science,  as 
materialism,  positivism,  evolution — then  it  depends 
on  what  these  several  philosophies  conclude  respecting 
the  First  Principle  and  Ultimate  Reality  of  things.  . .  . 
A  state  of  chaos,  whatever  may  have  been  the  crude 
beliefs  of  men,  there  never  was  in  the  cosmos  nor  ever 
can  be.  The  existence  of  God  as  the  eternal  support 
of  the  universe,  as  the  inmost  nerve  and  essence  of 
thought,  is  our  guarantee  to  the  contrary.  And  this 
belief  is  confirmed  by  science." 

Says  Dr  Warschauer,  of  Oxford  and  Jena,  in  his 
"  Anti-Nunquam  "  :  "  No  method  of  investigation 
known  to  the  laboratory  has  ever  laid  bare  the  process 
— which  yet  we  shall  be  scarcely  called  upon  to  deny — 
by  which  nerve  stimuli  are  transmitted  into  sensations 
or  ideas  ;  no  amount  of  scientific  observation  and 
experiment  furnishes  us  with  more  than  the  know- 
ledge that  certain  phenomena  are  regularly  followed 
by  other  phenomena,  or  can  prove  that  phenomenon 
A  causes  phenomenon  B  :  yet  we  all  believe  in  the 
reality  of  causation.  Moreover,  all  science  really 
rests  on  certain  prior  assumptions  transcending 
scientific  proof.  It  is  clear  that  Huxley's  agnostic 
formula  breaks  down  just  because  it  proves  too  much, 
and  would  make  us  agnostics  on  many  things  besides 
religion." 

Science  does  not  even  know  how  a  blade  of  grass 
grows,  or  how  it  can  grow. 


UNEXPLAINED    BASES  135 

Says  Tyndall :  "  The  passage  from  the  physics  of 
the  brain  to  the  corresponding  facts  of  consciousness 
is  unthinkable.  Were  we  able  even  to  see  and  feel  the 
very  molecules  of  the  brain,  and  follow  all  their 
motions,  all  their  groupings,  all  their  electric  dis- 
charges if  such  there  be,  and  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  corresponding  states  of  thought  and  feeling, 
we  should  be  as  far  as  ever  from  the  solution  of  the 
problem,"  and  adds,  "  The  chasm  between  the  two 
classes  of  phenomena  would  still  remain  intellectually 
impassable." 

And  even  Biichner,  rank  materialist  as  he  was, 
was  compelled  to  concede  that  "we  do  not  know  how 
spirit  can  be  denned  as  anything  else  than  as  some- 
thing immaterial  in  itself,  excluding  matter  or  opposed 
to  it." 

Says  Masson,  in  his  lectures  before  the  British 
Royal  Association  :  "  The  fact  may  be  dwelt  on  that, 
where  the  means  of  comparison  among  animals  exists, 
notions  of  the  phenomenal  world  possessed  by  one 
do  not  seem  to  contradict  those  possessed  by  another. 
The  dog's  world  seems  to  corroborate  man's,  and 
man's  world  the  dog's,  and  on  this  feeling  generalised 
not  only  our  sport  but  all  our  action  proceeds.  Is  not 
this  as  if  there  were  a  basis  of  independent  reality 
to  which  every  sentiency  helped  itself  according  to  its 
appetite,  but  in  such  manner  that  all  can  co-operate  ? 
'  There  are,  within  our  view,  countless  gradations 
of  sentiency,  all  busily  existing — from  those  in- 
finitesimally  minute  creatures  which  the  microscope 
reveals  to  us  swarming  in  and  among  the  mere  inter- 
stices of  things  till  invisibility  is  reached,  up  to  our- 
selves, the  chief  possessors  of  the  earth,  and  the  last 
and  highest  of  the  visible  scale.  .  .  .  Must  this  sup- 
position be  closed  abruptly  when  we  come  to  Man  ?  " 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE    AMERICAN    AND    ALL    OTHER    PATENT    SYSTEMS, 
FOUNDED  ON  SUPERNORMAL  PHENOMENA 

I  HAVE  spoken  of  the  various  sorts  of  evidence  in 
favour  of  spiritualism  —  religious,  psychological, 
philosophical,  anthropological  and  scientific. 

But  there  is  a  mass  of  direct  evidence  in  favour 
of  the  supernormal  to  which  I  have  not  yet  referred 
which  is  perfectly  overwhelming  and  indisputable, 
which  is  accepted  by  every  court  in  Christendom, 
and  is  well  known  to  lawyers,  but  of  which  science  is 
in  utter  ignorance,  while  yet  science  itself  acts  as  the 
humble  handmaiden  and  assistant  of  these  enormous 
results  of  direct  spiritual  revelation.  Not  only  that': 
the  well-being  of  all  our  people  is  so  closely  interwoven 
with  these  revelations  that  one  half  their  tangible 
property  and  more  than  half  their  prosperity  is 
directly  due  and  dependent  on  these  supernormal  re- 
velations. The  question  is  often  asked,  if  supernormal 
revelations  are  true,  why  do  the  spirits  not  tell  us 
something  of  use,  instead  of  chattering  like  old  women 
or  curates  ?  Here  we  have  use  enough,  and  results 
enough  to  convince  the  most  sceptical  and  satisfy 
the  most  avaricious.  Yet  it  is  purely  secular,  so  that 
superstition  cannot  discredit  it  on  the  one  hand,  nor 
sectarian  religion  condemn  it  on  the  other,  while,  as  I 
have  said,  science  is  running  all  its  workshops  to 
scatter  its  beneficent  results  broadcast  over  the  world. 

Many  years  ago  the  cash  market  value  of  these 
revelations  in  the  United  States  alone  was  estimated 
at  more  than  ten  thousand  million  dollars,  with  an 
annual  increase  of  more  than  twenty  per  centum. 

If  these  revelations  and  their  practical  results 
throughout  the  world  were  utterly  eliminated,  the 

136 


THE  AMERICAN  PATENT  SYSTEMS     137 

world  would  instantly   fall   back   more   than   two 
thousand  years  into  barbarism. 

Yet  I  do  not  know  that  this  great  body  of  irrefut- 
able evidence  has  ever  been  handled  as  a  whole,  and 
flung  en  masse  against  the  intrenchments  of 
materialism,  empiricism  or  devitalised  Christianity. 
This  is  what  I  propose,  in  a  few  words,  to  do. 

Science  does  not  deal  with  invention ;  invention 
is  a  finding — not  a  finding  out,  but  a  finding  ;  and  a 
new  discovery  is  not  a  reasoning  out,  or  something 
picked  up  from  books  or  people  ;  but  something 
newly  uncovered  from  the  mass  of  utterly  unknown 
things. 

To  illustrate  the  cash-  market  value  of  a  single 
one  of  these  supernormal  revelations,  the  right  to 
practically  use  which  for  a  few  years  inured  to  the 
recipient  and  his  legal  representatives  alone,  I  quote 
the  following  from  a  magazine  article  on  the  invention 
and  use  of  the  telephone  : — 

'  The  decision  that  made  this  condition  possible 
was  a  most  tragic  thing.  It  meant  hundreds  of 
millions  of  dollars  to  a  small  group  of  men  in  Boston 
and  ruin  to  hundreds  who  had  embarked  in  the  tele- 
phone business  under  one  or  the  other  of  the  inter- 
fering patents.  But,  of  far  graver  importance  even 
than  this,  it  meant  the  stifling  and  monopoly  of  a 
public  utility  that,  under  free  competition,  would  have 
saved  thousands  of  millions  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States." 

The  case  was  simply  this  :  a  number  of  persons 
claimed  to  have  each  been  the  first,  true  and  sole 
inventor  of  the  telephone,  a  thing  never  known  to 
anyone  on  earth  before,  and  its  mechanical  reduction 
to  practice.  The  contestants  in  the  interference  had 
the  public  records  of  the  alleged  first  discovery  or 
invention  before  them,  and  then  claimed  to  have 
previously  made  the  same  invention.  Only  one  could 
have  done  so  first,  and  the  whole  case  before  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  was  not  to  determine 
who  would  secure  advantage,  or  who  sustain  loss, 
but  simply  to  determine  who  was  the  first  to  find  out 
and  put  into  useful  form  with  diligence,  the  first 


138  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

working  telephone  the  world  had  ever  known,  used,  or 
conceived,  and  then  give  public  notice,  and  secure 
protection  in  the  legal  manner  provided. 

Science  deals  with  reason,  induction,  deduction, 
observation,  experience,  necessity,  classification, 
weights  and  measurements,  modifications  and  applica- 
tions, and  the  like,  but  never  with  invention.  Science 
deals  with  interpretation,  not  with  creation.  Inven- 
tion, on  the  part  of  a  man  of  science,  spells  condemna- 
tion of  science  and  its  methods.  Nature  wants  to  be 
courted,  not  superseded  ;  she  wants  a  follower,  not  a 
critic  ;  she  wants  a  lover,  not  a  dreamer.  That  is 
what  physical  nature  asks  for  from  physical  science. 
And  what  is  asked  for  from  materialistic  philosophy 
is  the  interpretation  of  the  phenomena  of  nature,  not 
its  supersession.  But  this  new  evidence  deals  not  at 
all  with  what  physical  science  deals  with,  and  nothing 
at  all  with  what  philosophy  deals  with,  but  comes 
down  like  a  flash,  strikes  "  like  a  bolt  from  the  blue," 
suddenly,  completely,  overwhelmingly,  and  in- 
stantaneously— and  almost  at  once  new  money 
makers  are  spinning  and  speeding  all  through  the 
land,  new  kinds  of  industry  spring  up  like  enchant- 
ments, and  man's  horizon  broadens  and  broadens, 
with  new  sky -light  and  star-light,  and  "  the  world 
and  all  that  therein  is,  the  round  world  and  they  that 
dwell  therein,"  are  transformed  for  ever  and  ever. 

Suppose  thatwere  true,  wouldnot  that  be  evidence  ? 
It  is  true  and  it  is  evidence  ;  and  science  and  religion 
have  only  missed  it  because  it  comes  unheeded,  like 
Tennyson's  flower  growing  in  the  crannies  of  the  old 
stone  wall : 

"  I  hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand, 
Little  flower — but  */  I  could  understand 
What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 
I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is." 

I  will  not  puzzle  you  any  longer  ;  you  would 
never  guess  it ;  it  is  the  patent  system,  and  the  army 
of  patents,  eight  hundred  thousand  strong  in  this  one 
country  alone.  I  refer  specifically  to  the  American, 
but  it  is  equally  true  of  the  patent  systems  of  all 
other  nations. 


THE  AMERICAN  PATENT  SYSTEMS     139 

Not  one  of  these  eight  hundred  thousand  patents 
could  have  been  granted,  not  one  of  them  could 
have  been  sustained  if  it  depended  on  any  one  of 
those  factors  with  which  the  physical  sciences  or 
materialistic  philosophy  deal. 

A  new  device  which  is  the  result  of  reason,  or  in- 
duction, or  deduction,  or  observation,  or  experience, 
or  necessity  or  classification,  or  weights  and  measures, 
or  modifications  and  applications,  or  interpretations 
of  known  nature,  is  not  a  patentable  invention  at  all, 
cannot  be  patented,  and,  if  inadvertently  patented, 
the  patent  will  be  thrown  out  by  the  first  United 
States  Court  it  is  brought  up  to  appear  before. 

This  is  not  a  new  thing  to  courts  and  lawyers,  nor 
to  inventors,  to  their  sorrow,  when  make-believes,  but 
it  will  sound  so  strange  to  you  perhaps  that  it  will 
appear  ridiculous.  You  will  say  :  Why,  look  around 
everywhere ;  everything  pretty  nearly  has  been 
patented  or  mixed  up  with  patents,  and  they  all 
embody  well-known  scientific  principles  and  applica- 
tions. So  they  do,  but  they  didn't  beforehand. 
You  know  of  the  old  farmer  urging  his  grown-up  but 
bashful  son  to  hunt  up  a  suitable  girl  and  get  married. 
To  his  tearful  protest  the  old  man  said  :  "  Why, 
what's  the  matter  with  you  ?  Didn't  I  have  to  get 
married  too  ?  "  "  Yes,"  came  the  hopeless  response, 
"  but  you  married  mother,  and  you  want  me  to  go 
out  and  marry  a  strange  gal." 

I  have  said  that  patentable  inventions  came  down 
like  "  a  bolt  from  the  blue,"  and  that  reason  had 
nothing  to  do  with  them.  You  will  find  that  reason 
is  not  merely  indiffere'nt,  but  is  an  actual  obstacle 
to  invention,  which  is  intuitional,  instantaneous,  ex- 
traneous and  revelational. 

I  shall  quote  briefly  from  Merwin's  "  Patentability 
of  Inventions,"  a  standard  authority  on  patent  law, 
one  of  the  highest  in  fact,  and  from  some  of  the 
United  States  Circuit  and  Supreme  Court  decisions 
bearing  on  these  points.  I  quote  first  the  follow- 
ing :— 

"  An  idea  is  not  an  invention,  if  it  be  in  the  nature 
of  an  inference." 


140  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

'  Whatever  is  logical  deduction  from  something 
else  is  not  invention." 

"  Reasoning  is  not  invention." 

"  An  inference  drawn  from  the  known  relation- 
ships of  things  is  not  invention." 

"  Inference  is  not  invention." 

"  Analogous  use  is  not  invention." 

'  Utility  from  special  knowledge  of  the  properties 
of  bodies  is  not  invention." 

"  Size  or  extension  is  not  invention." 

"  Improvement  in  degree  is  not  invention." 

"  Change  of  arrangement  is  not  invention." 

'  Knowledge  of  physical  facts  is  not  invention." 

'  Union  of  different  devices  is  not  invention." 

The  summary  is  as  follows  : — "  It  appears,  then, 
that  the  process  of  mind  called  for  by  the  statute 
is  not  that  of  ordinary  reasoning,  or  inference,  or 
deduction.  Whenever  the  mind  advances  from  the 
known  to  the  unknown  by  a  transition  natural  to  the 
ordinary,  uninstructed  intellect,  there  is  no  invention. 
Inference,  then,  is  a  criterion  of  what  is  not  invention." 

It  is  clear  then  that  invention  is  not  scientific  ; 
it  is  the  opposite  of  science,  for  the  above  definition 
of  what  is  not  invention  is  precisely  the  correct  de- 
finition of  what  science  is. 

I  will  now  quote  from  what  Merwin  calls  "  The 
test  of  what  is  invention."  "  The  phrases  used  by  the 
courts,"  he  says,  "  to  describe  invention  are  very  few ; 
Inventive  genius  ;  '  the  genius  of  an  inventor ' ;  '  the 
inventive  faculty ' ;  '  invention '  as  distinguished  from 
mechanical  or  technical  skill ;  '  invention  '  as  dis- 
tinguished from  construction  ;  '  ingenuity  '  as  con- 
trasted with  the  judgment  of  a  skilled  workman." 

"  Invention,"  he  says,  "  is  thus  difficult  to  define, 
because  the  idea  expressed  by  it  is  a  simple  and  ele- 
mentary one.  Invention,  as  we  have  already  hinted, 
is  that  process  of  mind  which  creates.  It  is  the  giving 
birth  to  a  new  idea  capable  of  physical  embodiment." 

Consider  these  momentous  words,  create,  give  birth. 

"Invention  means,"  says  the  distinguished  author, 
a  lawyer  writing  for  lawyers  and  courts,  "  something 
that  no  other  word  means,  it  is  the  creating  of  some- 


THE  AMERICAN  PATENT  SYSTEMS     141 

thing  new  ;  it  is  not  a  mere  modification  of  an  idea 
already  existing, but  an  addition  to  the  stock  of  ideas." 

He  defines  it  as  the  whole  intellectual  image,  of 
which  the  material  thing  sought  to  be  patented  is  the 
copy  and  the  embodiment. 

Here  then  is  the  keynote,  here  is  the  creation, 
here  the  new  birth.  It  is  an  intellectual  image  of  a 
thing  not  yet  put  into  material  form,  and  never  before 
existing  among  men,  so  far  as  known,  which  yet, 
when  put  into  material  form,  will  operate  and  be  use- 
ful. Try  the  great  creation  of  God,  and  test  it  by  this 
little  creation  of  man,  and  you  will  find  them  to  be 
identical.  Now,  whence  came  the  intellectual  image 
to  this  man,  of  what  never  existed  before,  what  never 
was  on  earth  before,  but  which,  when  reduced  to 
practice,  will  add  to  the  sum-total  of  man's  heritage 
and  God's  endowment  ?  There  was  only  one  possible 
source,  extra-human,  supernormal,  a  spiritual  gift 
from  where  spirits  are,  veritably,  "  a  bolt  from  the 
blue." 

To  continue  from  the  author  I  am  considering  ; 
"  Invention  is  imagination,"  he  says  "  (that  is 
imaging),  it  is  the  very  opposite  of  reasoning  or 
inference ;  it  is  a  single  act  of  the  mind ;  rather  an 
instantaneous  operation  than  a  process.  It  has  no 
stages,  the  essence  of  it  is  that  it  dispenses  with  them." 

"  In  the  process  of  reasoning  or  inference  the  con- 
clusion is  reached  both  gradually  and  inevitably. 
The  mind  is  led  on  from  one  point  to  another,  until  it 
reaches  a  conclusion  from  which  there  is  no  escape. 
Whereas,  when  the  mind  invents,  it  starts  with  the 
conclusion.  The  conclusion  flashes,  so  to  say,  upon 
the  mind.  The  conclusion,  therefore,  either  carries 
conviction  with  it,  or  it  has  to  be  verified  ;  for  the  mind 
does  not  perceive  how  it  has  been  reached." 

"  Reason  could  never  lead  one  to  the  truths  and 
ideas  which  are  the  subjects  of  invention  ;  in  fact, 
most  often  it  leads  directly  away  from  them.  And  it 
is  for  this  reason  that  invention  is  so  difficult  and 
comparatively  so  rare.  It  is  not  a  sort  of  elevated 
reason  ;  it  is  a  faculty  which  differs  in  kind  from 
reason,  which  often,  in  truth,  is  free  to  act  only  when 


142  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

reason  has  been  thrust  aside,  and  its  conclusions 
ignored,  nay,  denied." 

"  Invention  then  is  in  the  nature  of  a  guess.  The 
mind  leaps  across  a  logical  chasm.  Instead  of  work- 
ing out  a  conclusion,  it  imagines  it." 

The  nature  of  this  "  creative  guess,"  this 
"  imaging  "  of  what  is  to  be  but  never  has  been,  which 
will  operate  as  a  mechanism  when  it  is  afterwards  put 
into  material  form  for  the  first  time,  cannot  come 
from  the  personal,  physical  man  himself,  with  his 
sum-total  of  reason,  observation  and  experience.  He 
finds  the  integration  complete,  and  put  into  his  hands 
ready  for  use.  What  worked  out  these  integrations, 
and  gave  to  him  only  the  beneficent  and  complete 
conclusion  ?  There  is  an  integrating  power  far 
beyond  our  highest  conceptions.  Says  Sir  John 
Herschel,  of  these  integrations,  even  among  physical 
atoms,  "  Their  movements,  their  interchanges,  their 
'  hates '  and  '  loves,'  their  '  attractions  and  repulsions/ 
their  '  correlations/  and  what  not,  are  all  determined 
on  the  very  instant.  There  is  no  hesitation,  no 
blundering,  no  trial  and  error.  A  problem  of  dynamics 
which  would  drive  Lagrange  mad  is  solved  instanter. 
A  differential  equation  which,  algebraically  written 
out,  would  belt  the  earth,  is  integrated  in  an  eye- 
twinkle." 

The  flash  of  these  inventions  comes  sometimes 
in  a  dream  ;  so  the  method  of  making  shot  came,  in  a 
dream,  like  a  flash,  to  an  ignorant  woman,  the  wife  of 
a  shot-moulder,  and  revolutionised  the  art  of  shot- 
making  in  an  instant.  I  know  other  cases  of  valuable 
inventions  revealed  in  sleep.  This  is  why  great 
inventions  are  usually  made  by  those  totally  outside 
the  realm  to  which  their  discoveries  pertain.  Those 
in  the  rut  work  by  reason  and  fail ;  to  those  outside, 
in  due  time,  for  the  wants  of  man,  there  comes  the 
flash  of  inspiration,  and  the  world  rolls  over  on  to  a 
new  facet,  and  a  new  light  is  kindled  for  all  time. 

Says  the  United  States  Circuit  Court,  in  the  case 
of  Blandy  vs.  Griffith,  "  Invention  brings  into  activity 
a  different  faculty.  Their  domains  are  distinct." 

Says  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in  the 


THE  AMERICAN  PATENT  SYSTEMS     143 

Reckendorfer  case,  "  Mechanical  skill  is  one  thing, 
invention  is  a  different  thing.  The  distinction  be- 
tween mechanical  skill  and  its  convenience  and 
advantages  and  inventive  genius,  is  recognised  in  all 
cases." 

"  Invention/'  says  Merwin,  "  is  characterised  by 
an  absence  of  conscious  effort  and  by  instanteousness 
of  operation." 

"  Imagination,  here,  seizes  upon  the  true,  though 
extra  logical,  conclusion." 

"  An  intuition  is  a  single,  indecomposable,  mental 
act ;  an  inference  is  a  mental  passage  from  one  thing 
to  another." 

"  Invention  is  an  act  of  vision.  There  is  no  in- 
vention until  this  act  is  performed  ;  but  no  effort 
can  ensure  its  performance,  and  the  performance  is 
instantaneous,  and  unaccompanied  by  conscious 
effort." 

'  The  thought  or  experiments  which  precede  an 
invention  are  only  gropings  in  the  dark.  However 
accumulated,  they  prove  nothing,  and  they  do  not 
necessarily  lead  to  anything.  The  inventive  thought 
does  not  depend  upon  them,  and  cannot  be  verified 
by  them.  Reasoning  is  unravelling,  and  invention 
weaving.  Reasoning  is  an  analytic,  invention  a 
synthetic  process.  In  one  case  a  truth  is  drawn  out ; 
in  the  other  it  is  constructed." 

If  this  weaving,  if  this  synthesis,  if  this  con- 
struction, if  this  materialised  vision,  was  never  before 
in  or  of  mankind,  then  it  was  from  something  outside 
mankind,  and,  as  it  was  the  result  of  a  mental  vision, 
it  was  psychical ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  this  weaving, 
this  synthesis,  this  construction,  was  ever  before  in  or 
of  mankind,  then  it  was  not  an  invention,  not  a  new 
discovery,  not  patentable,  and  not  sustainable  even  if 
patented.  It  must  answer  to  the  test  of  the  Ancient 
Mariner : 

"We  were  the  first  that  ever  burst,  into  that  silent  sea." 


CHAPTER    XIX 

THE  WORKSHOP  IN   THE   SUBCONSCIOUS   DEPARTMENT 
OF   THE   MIND 

BADLY  stated,  as  I  have,  for  brevity,  been  compelled 
to  do,  I  must  ask  you  each  individually  to  think  this 
question  of  invention  out.  You  will  find  its  springs 
inevitably  in  the  sources  of  genius,  inspiration, 
mediumship,  clairvoyance  and  spiritualism.  I  speak 
from  experience.  It  comes  up  from  the  depths  of  the 
subconsciousness,  of  course,  but  if  the  subconscious- 
ness  is  an  original  creator  it  is  so  by  its  direct  connec- 
tion with  the  great  psychism  of  the  universe.  As  it  is 
so  rare  a  phenomenon,  it  is  more  likely  that  it  comes, 
as  Swedenborg,  and  Von  Hartmann,  and  other  great 
psychologists,  agree,  from  influx  or  revelation. 

If  it  was  new  among  men,  it  could  not  have  come 
telepathic  ally  from  any  other  living  man,  or  else  we 
will  have  to  try  to  imagine  where  that  one  got  it,  but 
it  might  have  come  telepathically,  from  surviving 
spirits  of  those  once  living,  and  who,  inspired  with  the 
inventive  faculty  on  earth,  have,  in  their  greater 
freedom  after  death,  worked  the  problem  out,  and 
put,  for  the  welfare  of  their  unforgotten  race,  the 
conclusion,  like  a  flash,  by  a  vision,  in  the  still 
watches  of  the  night,  into  those  receptive  hands. 
It  would  be  worthy  work  for  those  gone  before. 

And,  somehow,  this  seems  more  reasonable  to  me, 
though  I  may  be  wrong,  than  that  the  Great  Spirit 
of  the  Universe  should  be  concocting.,  for  some 
individual  man  here,  the  vision  of  a  sewing-machine 
or  a  phonograph.  Universal  instincts,  whether 
among  insects  or  higher,  or  lower,  animal  or  vegetable 
life  I  can  readily  conceive  of  as  directly  implanted  by 
creative  wisdom  to  make  the  gift  and  transmission  of 

144 


SUBCONSCIOUS    MIND  145 

life  capable  and  useful,  and  so  of  faith  (not  opinion, 
with  which,  says  Romanes,  it  has  often  been  un- 
warrantably confused),  honour,  truth,  justice, 
courage,  manhood  and  womanhood,  fidelity,  and  all 
the  fundamentals  of  higher  life  and  mind,  or  the 
divinely  endowed  faculties  which  Locke  took  as  his 
stock  in  hand,  with  which  to  start  mankind  along,  or 
revealed  religion,  or  even  the  cyclic  changes  of  nations, 
the  rise  of  great  leaders,  the  great  intermittent  and 
fluctuating  periods  of  art  from  one  people  to  another  ; 
but  I  feel  sure  that,  among  those  great  individual 
souls  which  have  gone  beyond,  and  are  still  advancing, 
still  breathing  a  higher  and  nobler  life,  there  must 
still  be  that  love  of  our  own  living  ones  left  behind 
which  would  enlist  their  efforts,  as  a  loving  mother, 
I  feel  certain,  would  still  seek,  as  a  guardian  spirit, 
to  watch  over  and  guide  her  loved  ones'  feet,  from 
that  realm  where,  says  the  glorious  hymn  of  Newman : 

"  We  shall  see  those  angel-faces  smile 
Which  we  have  loved  long  since,  and  lost  awhile." 

I  will  quote  some  beautiful  lines  from  "  The  Ring," 
by  Tennyson,  which  will  illustrate  my  meaning, 
wherein  the  father  says  to  his  young  daughter  : 

"  Fear  not  you  ! 

You  have  the  ring  she  guarded  ;  that  poor  link 
With  earth  is  broken,  and  has  left  her  free, 
Except  that,  still  drawn  downward  for  an  hour, 
Her  spirit  hovering  by  the  church,  where  she 
Was  married  too,  may  linger,  till  she  sees 
Her  maiden  coming  like  a  queen,  who  leaves 
Some  colder  province  in  the  North  to  gain 
Her  capital  city,  where  the  loyal  bells 
Clash  welcome — linger,  till  her  own,  the  babe 
She  lean'd  to  from  her  spiritual  sphere, 
Her  lovely  maiden  princess,  crowned  with  flowers, 
Has  enter'd  on  the  larger  woman-world 
Of  wives  and  mothers." 

When  a  little  child,  brought  up  in  a  mining  region, 
I  have  often  gone  down  the  deep  shafts,  and  once 
went  down  my  father's  well,  nearly  a  hundred  feet 
deep — they  roofed  it  over  afterwards — and  looking 
up,  in  the  broad  noonday,  I  saw  the  heavens 


146  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

sprinkled  with  the  heavenly  stars  ;  but  when  I 
reached  the  surface  again,  the  busy,  humming, 
material,  workaday  world,  they  were  gone.  Were 
they  gone  ?  One  poor,  deceptive  sense  told  me  that 
they  were  gone.  But  my  soul  knew  better,  child  as  I 
was.  Had  they  emitted  sound,  I  could  have  heard 
them  still ;  had  they  been  near  enough,  I  could  have 
touched  them  still ;  had  they  had  odour  or  taste  I 
could  have  smelled  or  tasted  them  still.  The  stars 
were  not  gone  •;  it  was  the  medium  through  which  I 
saw  them  ;  it  was  the  cutting  off  of  all  those  baffling 
earth-rays,  it  was  the  extinguishing  of  all  those  dis- 
cordant vibrations,  which  enabled  me,  and  me  alone, 
or  such  placed  like  me,  to  see  them  in  all  their  truth 
and  beauty. 

And  so  it  is  with  spiritual  manifestations  ;  they 
are  always  with  us,  they  are  ever  around  us,  they  are 
always  manifesting  themselves,  and  communicating 
with  us,  but  we  see  them  not,  because  we  "  see  as 
through  a  glass  darkly,"  we  feel  them  not,  because  we 
are  bewildered  by  the  rough,  coarse  and  common- 
place. But  let  only  the  God-given  light  come,  the 
direct  light,  let  the  scattered  earth-light  be  cut  off, 
and  lo ! 

"  We  shall  see  our  Pilot  face  to  face." 

The  source  of  these  ideas  from  the  beyond  is  not 
far  to  seek,  if  there  is  an  intellectual  beyond  ;  but  if 
there  is  none  such,  then  we  must  relegate  all  these 
magnificent  inventions,  and  all  that  they  have  done 
for  civilisation,  for  the  race,  and  for  mankind,  to  that 
limbo  of  blind  superstition,  where  credulous  imbeciles 
grovel  in  the  dirt  before 

"  A  rag,  and  a  bone,  and  a  hank  of  hair."- 

Prof  essor  Bowen,  in  his  work  on  Modern  Philosophy, 
in  considering  Von  Hartmann's  great  system,  "  The 
Philosophy  of  the  Unconscious,"  says  :  "In  respect 
to  the  processes  of  reminiscence,  reasoning,  induction, 
discovery,  composition,  invention  and  several  others, 
Hartmann  justly  observes  that  everything  depends 
on  the  right  thought  occurring  at  the  right  moment. 


SUBCONSCIOUS    MIND  147 

And  this  happy  suggestion  is  invariably  the  work  of 
the  Unconscious.  Vainly  do  we  rack  our  brains  with 
persistent  conscious  effort  and  research  to  find  the 
word  for  the  riddle  or  the  solution  of  the  problem  ;  it 
will  not  come  at  our  bidding.  And  then  suddenly, 
perhaps  after  a  considerable  interval  of  time,  during 
which  we  had  discharged  the  subject  from  our  thought, 
and  perhaps  when  we  were  idly  musing  on  some  other 
theme,  just  what  we  wanted  flashes  upon  us  as  by 
inspiration.  The  man  of  science  is  quite  as  dependent 
as  the  poet,  or  the  wit,  on  these  gleams  of  light  coming 
from  the  unconscious.  Archimedes  stepping  out  of  a 
bath,  or  Newton  idly  gazing  when  an  apple  falls  from 
the  tree,  suddenly  calls  out  Eureka  !  and  the  problem 
which  may  have  perplexed  him  half  a  lifetime  is 
spontaneously  solved.  What  remains  is  easy  enough, 
and  may  be  slowly  elaborated  in  conscious  thought ; 
it  is  only,  through  the  reasoning  process,  to  bring  the 
new  truths  into  harmony  with  those  previously  known, 
and  thereby  to  determine  their  classification  and  place 
in  a  system.  The  premises  being  given  in  immediate 
intuition,  through  inspiration  from  the  Unconscious, 
the  right  inference  from  them  follows,  as  it  were, 
mechanically,  being  drawn  as  easily  and  correctly  by 
a  simpleton  as  by  a  man  of  genius  ;  in  fact,  says 
Hartmann,  it  follows  necessarily,  just  as  a  ball  pro- 
pelled by  two  forces  must  move  on  the  diagonal  which 
is  the  resultant  of  their  combined  directions." 

There  is  no  person  who  is  not  familiar  with  this 
process  in  his  own  experience.  '  I  have  it  just  on  the 
tip  of  my  tongue  ;  wait  a  minute,  it  will  come  to  me.0 

"  It  will  come  to  me  ?  "  Who  is  the  me  ?  What 
is  it  that  comes,  and  whence  comes  it  ? 

Professor  Ladd,  whom  Schofield  characterises  as 
"  a  vigorous  supporter  of  the  old  and  narrow  school/* 
says,  in  his  "  Philosophy  of  Mind"  :  "  A  thinker  on 
any  problem  finds  the  truth  shot  up  from  the  hidden 
depths  below  ;  it  appears  presented  for  seizure  to 
consciousness  as  the  gift  of  the  Unconscious.  In 
similar  fashion  are  the  happy  hits  of  inventors,  the 
rare  achievements  of  art,  bestowed  upon  the  mind 
rather  than  consciously  wrought  out  by  it.  Nor  can 


148  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

one  fail  to  notice  as  significant,  the  connection  of  all 
such  experiences  with  the  condition  and  nature  of 
'  tact/  of  '  instinct.'  If  the  credit  is  to  be  given, 
as  it  were,  to  the  unconscious  activities  of  our  own 
mind  for  these  results  in  consciousness  which  follow 
states  of  unconsciousness,  such  credit  must  be  ex- 
tended quite  indefinitely.  For  the  credit  of  much  of 
our  most  brilliant  and  impressive  acts  in  consciousness 
undoubtedly  belong  not  to  consciousness  ;  it  belongs 
to  somewhat  or  to  some  One  of  whose  doings  we,  as 
conscious  egos,  are  not  immediately  conscious." 

Professor  Montgomery,  writing  in  Mind,  vol.  vii., 
says,  "  We  are  constantly  aware  that  feelings  emerge 
unsolicited  by  any  previous  mental  state,  directly 
from  the  dark  womb  of  unconsciousness.  Indeed,  all 
our  most  vivid  feelings  are  thus  mystically  derived. 
Suddenly  a  new  irrelevant,  unwilled,  unlooked-for 
presence  intrudes  itself  into  consciousness.  Some 
inscrutable  power  causes  it  to  rise  and  enter  the 
mental  presence  as  a  sensorial  constituent." 

Wundt,  whose  authority  on  mental  phenomena 
few  will  question,  says  in  his  "  Physiological  Psy- 
chology ' ' :  "  The  traditional  opinion  that  consciousness 
is  the  entire  field  of  the  internal  life  cannot  be  ac- 
cepted. In  consciousness  psychic  acts  are  very 
distinct  from  one  another  .  .  .  and  observation 
necessarily  conducts  to  unity  in  psychology.  But  the 
agent  of  this  unity  is  outside  of  consciousness,  which 
knows  only  the  result  of  the  work  done  in  the  un- 
known laboratory  beneath  it.  Suddenly  a  new 
thought  springs  into  being.  Ultimate  analysis  of 
psychic  processes  shows  that  the  unconscious  is  the 
theatre  of  the  most  important  mental  phenomena. 
The  conscious  is  always  conditional  upon  the  un- 
conscious." 

One  must  note  that  Ladd  and  Wundt  speak  of 
"  shot  up  from  the  hidden  depths  below,"  or  "  work 
done  in  the  unknown  laboratory  beneath  it."  These 
metaphors  must  be  kept  in  mind  as  metaphors  only, 
for  while  they  are  necessary  in  picturing  "  states," 
they  bear  no  relation  at  all  to  "  facts."  There  is  no 
above  or  beneath  in  consciousness  or  unconsciousness ; 


SUBCONSCIOUS    MIND  149 

there  may  be  a  within  and  a  without,  because  there 
is  an  individuality,  and  an  area  outside,  which  bounds 
the  individuality  more  or  less  definitely,  so  that  these 
interjections  are  not  from  any  physical  or  mental 
area  beneath,  but  are  either  from  the  individuality 
itself,  or  extra  to  the  individuality.  I  give  this 
caution  because  metaphors  and  analogies  are  so 
dangerous  to  handle,  and  so  apt  to  lead  to  false 
conclusions. 

That  this  knowledge  is  not,  in  many  cases,  from 
the  individuality  itself,  what  I  have  said  of  the 
patentability  of  inventions  will  demonstrate,  since 
the  catalogue  of  barriers  to  patentability,  which  I 
have  cited,  includes  all  our  normal  faculties,  any  one  of 
which,  as  the  factor,  will  suffice  to  exclude  a  patent- 
able  invention  at  all. 

"  A  stroke  of  genius  "is  not  a  stroke  of  genius  at 
all  if  it  is  borrowed,  learned  from  others,  worked  out, 
or  stolen. 

Says  Waldstein  in  "The  Subconscious  Self": 
"  It  is  through  the  subconscious  self  that  Shakespeare 
must  have  perceived,  without  effort,  great  truths 
which  are  hidden  from  the  conscious  mind  of  the 
student." 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  tells  us  that  Sir  W.  R. 
Hamilton  discovered  quaternions  while  walking  out 
with  his  wife  ;  he  "  felt  the  galvanic  circle  of  thought 
close,  and  he  saw  the  fundamental  relations  between 
I,  J  and  K,  just  as  he  used  them  ever  afterwards." 

Dr  Holmes  also  says  :  "  Our  different  ideas  are 
stepping  stones  ;  how  we  get  from  one  to  another  we 
do  not  know;  something  carries  us.  We  (our 
conscious  selves)  do  not  take  the  step.  The  creating 
and  informing  spirit,  which  is  within  us  and  not  of  us 
is  recognised  everywhere  in  real  life.  It  comes  to  us 
as  a  voice  that  will  be  heard  ;  it  tells  us  what  we  must 
believe  ;  it  frames  our  sentences  and  we  wonder  at  this 
visitor  who  chooses  our  brain  as  his  dwelling-place." 

Dr  G.  Thompson,  in  his  "  System  of  Psychology," 
says  :  "I  have  had  a  feeling  of  the  uselessness  of  all 
voluntary  effort,  and  also  that  the  matter  was  working 
itself  clear  in  my  mind.  It  has  many  times  seemed 


150  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

to  me  that  I  was  really  a  passive  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  a  person  not  myself." 

These  are  familiar  experiences  ;  who  does  not 
recall  the  saying,  when  a  difficult  or,  at  the  time,  an 
insoluble  question  of  business  or  the  like  suddenly 
confronts  us — "  I  will  sleep  on  it "  ?  What,  sleep  on 
it  ? — if  sleep  is  but  the  period  of  brain  quiescence  or  of 
fantastic  or  worthless  dreams  ;  as  Dr  Hammond  says, 
"  When  the  brain  is  quiescent  there  is  no  mind  "  ? 

Ah,  no  ;  quoting  from  Professor  Barker's 
"  Foundation  of  Habit  in  Man  "  :  "  Mind  may  be  pre- 
dicated of  all  animal  life,  in  one  sense  or  another  ; 
and  we  may  also  favour  the  view  of  Agassiz  and  others 
that  a  spiritual  element  is  the  organising  cause  in 
every  embryo  cell,  determining  its  development." 

And  not  only  mind  in  animal  life,  but  mind,  and 
mostly  the  subconscious  mind,  in  vegetable  life  as  well. 

Dr  Ward,  the  paleo-botanist  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey,  Curator  of  the  Botanical  Depart- 
ment, United  States  National  Museum,  in  his 
Memorial  Address  on  Charles  Darwin,  says  :  "  Darwin 
looked  upon  plants  as  living  things.  He  did  not  study 
their  forms  so  much  as  their  actions.  He  interrogated 
them  to  learn  what  they  were  doing.  The  central 
truth,  towards  which  his  botanical  investigations 
constantly  tended,  was  that  of  the  universal  activity 
of  the  vegetable  kingdom — that  all  plants  move  and 
act.  He  has,  so  to  speak,  animated  the  vegetable 
world.  He  has  shown  that  whichever  kingdom  of 
organic  nature  we  contemplate,  to  live  is  to  move, 
He  says  that  '  plants  acquire  and  display  this  power 
only  when  it  is  of  some  advantage  to  them/  but  asks, 
whether  animals  display  this  power  except  when  it  is 
of  some  advantage  to  them  ;  and  answers,  certainly 
not.  Every  leaf,  every  tendril,  every  rootlet,  pos- 
sesses the  power  of  spontaneous  movement,  and 
under  nearly  all  circumstances  actually  exercises 
that  power." 

The  speaker,  in  his  Memorial  Address,  continues : 
"  Darwin  has  actually  solved  the  great  problem  of 
phytology  so  long  supposed  to  be  incapable  of  solution 
— viz.  Why  does  the  root  grow  downward  and  the  stem 


SUBCONSCIOUS    MIND  151 

upward  ?  Briefly  and  roughly  stated,  the  answer  to 
the  question  is  that,  as  the  bursting  seed  pushes  out 
its  two  germinal  points,  these  circumrotate  from  the 
first,  and  thus  explore  their  surroundings  for  the  means 
of  benefiting  the  plant.  To  employ  Darwin's  own 
words,  they  '  perceive '  the  advantage  that  would 
result  from  the  penetration  of  the  soil  on  the  one  hand, 
and  from  the  ascent  into  the  free  air  and  sunlight  on 
the  other,  and  through  the  pre-Darwinian  law  of  the 
'  physiological  division  of  labour,'  the  one  becomes 
geotropic  and  the  other  heliotropic." 

So  the  epiblast  in  the  growing  foetus  reaches 
around  and  unites  along  its  raphe  or  seam,  and  grows 
together  only  here,  to  enclose  the  body  and  its  con- 
tents, "  perceiving "  beforehand  the  union  which 
it  must  effect.  And  so  the  little  pole-bean  stalk,  as 
it  sends  its  first  tendrils  out,  reaches  around  for  a 
support.  Take  a  stick,  and  set  it  in  the  ground  a 
couple  of  inches  away,  and  see  the  little  plant  bend 
over  and  reach  out  to  twine  its  tendrils  around  it. 
Just  before  it  reaches  the  stick,  pull  it  up  and  stick 
it  in  the  ground  on  the  opposite  side,  and  it  is  really 
pathetic  to  see  the  movements  before  the  plant  finds 
out  whither  to  bend  again  ;  repeat  this  at  different 
points,  and  you  can  make  the  little  plant  travel  at  will, 
without  reaching  its  "  heart's  desire  "  at  all.  The 
plant  will  as  clearly  manifest  its  bewilderment  and 
disappointment  as  if  it  were  a  dog.  I  have  often, 
when  a  boy,  done  this  to  a  poor  little  bean-stalk,  until 
I  was  actually  ashamed  of  myself.  But  my  mother 
loved  plants  and  flowers  :  she  was  one  of  those  who 
could  "  sing  to  the  flowers,"  and  they  heard  her. 


CHAPTER   XX 

MEMORY  THE   FINAL  BATTLEGROUND   OF  EMPIRICISM 

I  HAVE  long  foreseen  that  the  field  of  memory  is  to  be 
the  final  battleground  between  psychology  and  any 
materialistic  or  empirical  theory  of  the  universe — and 
that  psychology  will  be  the  winner. 

For  ages  memory  was  looked  upon  as  a  series  of 
"  impressions/'  or  "  physical  records  "  kept  in  cells 
or  pigeon-holes,  as  it  were,  in  the  brain.  But  with 
our  advances  in  science  these  views  soon  became 
untenable  ;  but  the  old  terminology  still  persists,  and 
we  are  deluded  thereby  precisely  as  we  are  deluded 
by  any  false  definition  of  terms,  or  by  the  want  of 
accurate  definition. 

Lord  Bacon,  among  his  eidolons,  gave  this  eidolon 
of  form  a  prominent  place,  because,  having  become 
familiar  with  a  term,  the  term  soon  becomes,  if  we  are 
not  careful,  a  description,  and  will  be  used  to  explain 
the  unknown,  while  it  itself  is  equally  unknown.  It 
is  as  though  we  should  speak  of  x  and  y  as  equal,  or 
unequal,  and  thereby  come  to  look  upon  x  and  y, 
which  are  quite  unknown  quantities,  as  real  quantities 
themselves,  instead  of  symbols  of  the  unknown,  and 
which  cannot  explain  anything,  because  they  are 
themselves  the  very  things  to  be  explained.  It  is  so 
with  the  terms  Hypnotism,  Telepathy,  Unconscious- 
ness or  Subconsciousness,  and  a  multitude  of  other 
terms  and  phrases.  This  is  why  every  term  must 
be  defined  precisely,  before  using  it.  A  bright  young 
visitor  in  a  company  of  members  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research  one  evening  said  that  all  we  were 
discussing  could  be  easily  explained  by  hypnotism. 
I  asked  him  what  he  meant  by  hypnotism,  and  he 
answered  that  if  we  were  going  to  split  hairs  in  that 

152 


MEMORY  THE  BATTLEGROUND       153 

way,  there  was  no  use  in  prolonging  the  discussion. 
That  was  pro.  Now,  this  one  is  con.  At  a  like 
meeting,  a  visitor  presented  a  case  or  a  problem  of 
occult  character,  and  explained  it,  as  he  thought, 
by  reference  to  Carpenter's  theory  of  unconscious 
cerebration,  but  was  not  at  all  himself  satisfied  with 
the  explanation,  although  he  knew  that  it  could  be 
explained  physically.  I  suggested  that  perhaps  it 
might  be  explained  by  Abracadabra.  He  said  he  had 
thought  of  that  too,  but  believed  that  it  did  not  fully 
account  for  it  either.  Seeing  signs  of  amazement 
somewhere,  he  suddenly  asked  me  what  I  understood 
by  Abracadabra.  "  Blest  if  I  know,"  I  replied.  And 
that,  surely,  ended  the  discussion,  for  he  became 
angry,  to  my  regret. 

And  so  of  memory  ;  it  is  like  the  sunrise,  which 
men  have  seen  daily  for  thousands  of  years,  and  not 
a  soul  knew  that  it  was  an  earth-sink,  or  turn-over, 
instead  of  a  sunrise  ; — however,  we  still  call  it  sunrise, 
although  we  know  better  now.  So  of  memory,  we 
call  it  an  impression,  and  while  psychologists  know 
that  it  is  not  an  impression  at  all,  but  a  memory,  we 
still  call  it  an  impression. 

It  is  easy  to  clear  up  the  fallacy  ;  every  living  soul 
has  the  material  at  hand ;  but  nobody  bothers  about 
it,  any  more  than  he  does  about  sunrise.  Yet  the 
whole  past,  present  and  future  of  the  race,  and  of 
spiritualism,  psychology,  religion  and  humanity  are 
involved  in  the  disputed  definition  of  memory,  and, 
until  that  is  settled,  we  must  bother  about  it.  When 
we  fully  understand  this  memory,  it  will  be  like 
Tennyson's  flower  in  the  crannied  wall. 

"  I  hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand, 
Little  flower, — but  if  I  could  understand 
What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 
Then  /  should  know  what  God  and  man  is." 

Here  is  a  little  hypothetical  dialogue  which  I 
wrote  out  some  years  ago,  such  as  are  occurring  every 
day.  If  anyone  can  explain  it,  or  even  indicate  any 
conceivable  means  by  which  it  can  be  explained,  on  a 
physical  or  empirical  basis,  it  will  be  more  than  any- 


154  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

one  as  yet  has  been  able  to  do.     And  yet  it  is  so 
homely  and  simple  as  to  be  almost  ridiculous. 

A  young  student  at  college  meets  his  classmate, 
after  a  vacation,  and  says  to  him  :  "  Jim,  I  got  your 
letter  about  old  Aleck  being  drowned  in  your  cistern ; 
why,  you  haven't  any  cistern." 

"  Yes,  the  one  you  fell  into  when  you  visited  us 
several  years  ago,  when  we  were  boys.  It  was  the 
day  that  mother  went  away  to  Uncle  John's  funeral. 
What  day  was  that  ?  " 

"  It  was  the  3rd  of  July  ;  we  were  thinking  of 
making  a  kite,  in  the  barn  ;  but  it  wasn't  a  cistern  ; 
it  was  a  spring." 

"  Yes,  but  the  spring  dried  up,  and  father  con- 
verted it  into  a  cistern." 

"  I  didn't  know  that,  but  the  old  spring-house  is 
indelibly  photographed  on  my  memory.  I  can  see  it 
now  with  the  beehive  alongside  it." 

"  No,  that  was  a  wasp's  nest ;  one  of  them  stung 
you  on  the  neck.  The  beehives  were  up  behind  the 
barn." 

"  Then  I  never  saw  them.  That  was  the  day  you 
shot  at  Johnson's  old  duck  and  missed  it." 

"  Yes,  and  when  we  acted  it  out  afterwards  for  old 
Aleck,  I  can  see  the  old  fellow's  face  gradually  draw 
up  into  puckers,  and  his  grin  broaden  and  broaden, 
till  he  finally  tumbled  off  the  stump  amid  peals  of 
laughter." 

"  By  Jove !  how  the  lines  of  his  face  jumped  back 
and  reversed  themselves  •  I  really  thought  he  should 
take  to  crying.  He  blamed  it  on  the  old  duck,  too, 
but  your  mother  blamed  it  on  me." 

"  No,  on  me,  and  I  guess  a  licking  was  due  me  for 
shooting  at  that  duck  ;  but  I  never  got  it,  and  only 
last  year  mother  told  me  that  she  had  begged  me  off." 

"  She  winked  at  me  when  you  weren't  looking. 
I'll  bet  the  old  place  appears  quite  changed  with  the 
spring-house  gone." 

"  No,  the  spring-house  is  still  there,  but  it's  a 
wood-house  now.  Do  you  know  where  the  wood- 
house  used  to  stand  ?  " 

"  Do  I  ?     I've  got  that  axe-scar  on  my  ankle  yet." 


MEMORY  THE  BATTLEGROUND       155 

Now  this  trifling  little  dialogue  is  simply  to  show 
that  memory,  comparatively  speaking,  from  physical 
impressions  on  the  brain-cells  or  elsewhere,  is  im- 
possible. The  theory  of  "  associated  ideas  "  is  called 
in  to  connect  these  utterly  discrepant  factors  together, 
but  we  must  beware  here  of  the  underlying  fallacy 
which  any  theory  of  such  association  of  ideas  with  a 
physical  substratum  implies.  If  the  whole  set,  so  to 
speak,  are  associated,  they  are  associated  as  a  set, 
and  since  they  are  awakened  or  touched  upon  from 
so  many  directions,  and  touched  upon  at  so  many 
points  (or  must  be  if  they  are  to  be  thrown  into 
associated  contact,  as  it  were,  by  a  thousand  diverse 
accidents),  the  association  must  be  extended  and 
extended,  until  all  ideas  whatever  are  connected  up 
with  all  other  ideas  whatever,  and  the  fabric  falls, 
by  its  own  weight,  as  well  as  by  the  demonstration 
of  fact,  which  each  of  us  can  make,  and  must  make 
every  moment  of  our  lives.  We  would  have  to 
become,  in  fact,  like  the  old  German  farmer  in  Penn- 
sylvania, who,  charged  with  being  land-greedy, 
replied :  "  Why,  I  am  not  land-greedy,  all  I  want  is 
choost  the  land  what  jines  on  to  mine."  Or  it  would 
be  like  that  hypothesis  of  continuously  copulated 
telepathy  which  makes  all  the  knowledge  of  anyone 
whether  past  or  present,  the  common  knowledge  of 
all,  and  everyone,  of  course,  practically  omniscient. 

But  there  is  one  quality  or  character  of  memory 
which  is  studiously  concealed  in  presenting  the 
physiological  conception  of  memory,  and  it  is  a  curious 
example  of  Lord  Bacon's  eidolon  of  form. 

I  cannot  better  express  this  than  by  citing  Pro- 
fessor Francis  Bowen,  of  Harvard  University,  in  his 
discussion  of  Von  Hartmann's  splendid  "  Philosophy 
of  the  Unconscious."  Had  Von  Hartmann  not  feared 
to  follow  where  his  own  system  inevitably  led,  he  would 
have  left  behind  him  the  greatest  work  on  the  subject 
ever  given  by  mortal  man,  if  we  may  except  a  single 
one,  the  eighty-one  short  chapters  which  make  up 
the  Tao-Teh-King  of  Lao-Tsze,  the  ancient  Chinese 
philosopher,  who  wrote  twenty-five  hundred  years  ago, 
especially  when  collated  with  the  commentaries  of  his 


156  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

almost  equally  illustrious  follower,  Kwang  Tsze,  who 
wrote  a  century  and  a  half  later. 

Says  Prof  essorBowen  in  his  "Modern  Philosophy" : 
"  We  need  to  have  an  adequate  conception  of  the 
magnitude  and  importance  of  the  work  which  memory 
has  to  do,  before  we  can  rightly  understand  how  far  its 
operation  depends  upon  '  that  power  not  ourselves ' 
which  Hartmann  calls  '  the  unconscious.'  An  obvious 
illustration  will  make  this  point  clear.  Many  edu- 
cated persons,  in  this  country  as  well  as  in  England, 
know  enough  of  at  least  four  languages,  Latin,  French, 
German  or  Italian,  and  English,  to  be  able  to  read  any 
common  book  in  either  of  them  with  about  equal 
facility.  The  whole  number  of  English  words,  not 
including  purely  technical  terms  or  mere  derivatives, 
is  at  least  forty  thousand ;  and  that  portion  of  the 
vocabulary  of  either  of  the  other  three  languages, 
which  is  at  command  of  a  well-educated  foreigner, 
is  probably  half  as  large.  Among  the  treasures  of 
memory  in  such  a  mind,  therefore,  must  be  reckoned 
at  least  one  hundred  thousand  mere  words,  all  of 
which,  with  some  trifling  exceptions  for  onomatopoeia, 
are  symbols  as  arbitrary  as  the  signs  in  algebra.  What 
a  countless  multitude  of  individual  facts  and  familiar 
truths  in  science  and  ordinary  life  are  either  wrapped 
up  in  these  words,  or  exist  side  by  side  with  them  in 
any  well-informed  mind !  Certainly  such  a  mind  is 
far  more  richly  stocked  with  words  and  ideas  than 
the  British  Museum  is  with  books.  That  admirably 
managed  institution,  suffering  from  the  embarrass- 
ment of  riches,  maintains  a  full  staff  of  well-trained 
librarians ;  and  one  of  them,  after  rummaging  the 
catalogue  and  the  shelves  for  perhaps  ten  minutes,  will 
triumphantly  produce  any  volume  that  may  be  called 
for.  But  the  single  invisible  librarian,  who  awaits  our 
orders  in  the  crowded  chambers  of  memory,  is  far  more 
speedy  and  skilful  in  his  service.  A  student  reads  a 
page  of  French  or  German  in  a  minute,  and  for  each 
of  the  two  or  three  hundred  groups  of  hieroglyphs 
printed  on  it,  '  the  unconscious '  instantly  furnishes  us 
whatever  we  call  for,  either  its  meaning,  or  its  ety- 
mology, or  its  English  equivalent,  or  its  grammatical 


MEMORY  THE   BATTLEGROUND       157 

relations  to  other  groups  in  the  same  sentence,  or  any 
of  the  associated  ideas  in  a  little  world  of  knowledge 
of  which  this  one  word  forms  the  centre.  We  have 
no  conscious  clue  with  which  to  direct  ourselves  in 
the  search  ;  it  is  enough  that  we  have  an  interest  in 
the  point  to  be  remembered,  that  we  need  it  for  the 
work  which  is  in  hand,  and  instantly  it  is  produced 
out  of  the  vast  repository." 

Now,  let  us  look  a  little  further  into  the  above 
statement,  with  reference  to  the  theory  of  material 
or  physical  impressions.  The  invisible  librarian,  at 
the  call  of  the  mind,  must  bring  into  cognisance  of  the 
mind  the  corresponding  impression  out  of,  say,  these 
one  hundred  thousand  word-signs  alone,  not  speaking 
of  the  billions  of  billions  of  other  impressions  accumu- 
lated through  a  lifetime.  To  do  this,  of  course,  the 
"  picker,"  as  I  call  this  invisible  librarian,  must  know 
what  word  the  mind  is  in  need  of,  and  also  where  to 
obtain  the  corresponding  physical  impression.  But  if 
the  picker  knows  beforehand  what  the  word  is  for  which 
it  is  looking,  then  it  already  knows  it  before  hunting 
up  the  physical  impression  at  all,  and  in  that  case  the 
law  of  parsimony  forbids  that  an  elaborate  mechanism 
and  room  for  physically  recording  impressions  should 
be  employed,  when  the  "  picker  "  knows  all  the 
words  as  needed,  before  he  hunts  them  up  in  their 
pigeon-holes,  and  can  produce  them  at  will.  For, 
if  the  "  picker  "  does  not  know  beforehand,  he  never 
will  know,  for  no  one  can  find  a  certain  thing  among 
thousands,  who  does  not  know  what  he  is  looking  for. 

Therefore,  if  the  "  picker  "  is  not  physical,  the 
whole  essential  fabric  of  memory  is  spiritual ;  if  the 
picker  is  physical,  then  the  picker  itself  will  need  a 
guide,  and  this  new  picker  will  be  the  real  picker,  and 
there  is  a  still  wider  breach  of  the  law  of  parsimony, 
for  we  have  only  multiplied  confusion  by  introducing 
another  intermediate  dummy. 

Association  of  ideas  can  play  no  part  in  reading  an 
unknown  book,  or  in  writing  one,  so  far  as  memory  is 
concerned,  for  the  ideas  are  still  to  be  acquired  from 
the  very  book  itself,  or  else  from  the  inventive  mind 
itself,  and  they  cannot  be  associated  until  acquired 


158  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

and  co-ordinated.  And  in  writing  a  letter  all  the 
sentences  are  new,  and  the  juxtapositions  of  all  the 
ideas  are  also  new,  else  it  would  not  be  a  letter,  but 
a  copy ;  and  in  the  latter  case  the  statement  still 
remains  true  of  the  original  from  which  the  copy  was 
made. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  whole  of  memory  belongs 
to  that  psychical  world  which  Sir  John  Herschel 
described,  in  which  will  is  complemented  with  motive, 
power  with  design,  and  thought  with  reason,  which  is 
not  a  chaos,  and  in  which  the  movements  of  the  atoms 
and  molecules  are  so  co-ordinated  and  controlled, 
that  "  a  problem  of  dynamics  which  would  drive 
Lagrange  mad  is  solved  instanter,  while  the  movement 
goes  on,  and  in  which  a  differential  equation  which, 
algebraically  written  out,  would  belt  the  earth,  is 
integrated  in  an  eye- twinkle." 

They  are  allied  with  that  instinct  which  Kant 
declared  to  be  "  The  voice  of  God,"  and  Von  Hart- 
mann  the  "  Action  of  the  Unconscious  "  ;  but  not 
that  pseudo-scientific  notion  of  instinct,  as  a  memory 
survival  from  earlier  forms,  ages  before,  and  from 
progenitors  which  were  less  informed,  instead  of 
better  informed,  and  which  could  not  possibly  have 
known  the  very  thing  which  their  successors  are 
assumed  to  have  learned  from  them — and  how  ?  By 
physical  memory — impressions,  transmitted  through 
countless  generations,  and  a  series  of  pickers,  equally 
countless,  travelling  along,  pari-passu,  all  to  teach 
ants,  for  example,  the  best  place  to  bite  a  man,  before 
men  were  created. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

THE  SOLE  ALTERNATIVES  :    DEITY  AND  SPIRITUALISM, 
OR  ELSE  ZERO  AND  NIHILISM 

SPIRITUALISM  is  merely  encountering  to-day  the  old 
odium  theologicum,  and  opprobrium  scientice,  which 
all  new  light  and  all  new  science  has  ever  encountered, 
and  is  religiously  damned  with  the  same  "  bell,  book 
and  candle  "  as  have  been  encountered  by  all  great 
scientific  reforms  ;  its  validity  is  found  to  be  estab- 
lished as  soon  as  the  clues  have  been  run  out,  but  that 
did  not  matter  so  long  as  science  refused  to  run  them 
out,  and  its  greatest,  its  only  enemy  is  that  same  old 
a  priori,  which  has  held  back  the  knowledge  of  man, 
by  the  refusal  of  what  Professor  James  calls  "  the  will 
to  believe,'1  or  what  is  the  same  thing,  the  will  to 
examine. 

So,  the  value  of  science  to  man  is  in  nowise 
diminished  by  a  full  and  fair  knowledge  of  what  it 
really  has  done,  and  how,  and  on  what  basis  it  has 
done  it,  but  it  is  immeasurably  degraded  by  its  denial 
of,  or  refusal  to  investigate,  the  actuality  of  the  very 
bases  on  which  it  is  established ;  and  still  worse,  of 
its  agnostic  denial  of  any  human  ability  to  search  out 
and  determine  these  fundamentals  of  life  and  mind. 
Wherever  science  put  down  an  a  priori,  you  may 
mark  well  that,  starting  with  and  taking  cognisance 
of  the  mere  apparent  phenomena  of  physics,  it  has 
worked  merely  with  weights  and  measurements,  and 
so  doing,  and  so  doing  alone,  as  soon  as  it  strikes  the 
unknown  it  creeps  behind  the  Moloch  of  superstition, 
into  whose  red-hot  gridiron  bars  it  has  already  helped 
to  fling  the  hapless  few  who  have  been  looking,  and 
proving,  and  thinking,  instead  of  merely  talking,  and 
talking,  and  talking. 

159 


160  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

What  matters  it,  as  dealing  with  psychology,  how 
long  it  takes  a  sensation  from  a  pin-prick  to  travel 
from  the  finger  to  the  brain  or  spinal  cord  and  back 
again  ?  The  question  obviously  is,  how  does  it 
travel  at  all,  and  what  is  it  that  travels  ? 

So  of  the  distance  at  which  two  calliper  points  on 
the  skin  will  feel  as  one  prick,  or  as  two  ?  or  what 
appears  when  an  ignorant  savage  tries  to  count  above 
five,  or  all  the  formal,  descriptive  and  mechanical 
results  in  the  physics  of  life  and  mind  ?  That  is  not 
psychology  at  all.  What  is  life,  what  is  mind,  what 
is  perception,  what  is  reason,  what  is  memory,  what 
is  remorse,  what  is  art,  or  love,  or  genius,  or  intellect, 
or  whatever  makes  man  differ  from  and  superior  to 
the  brutes,  and  the  brutes  superior  to  crude  matter  ? 
Why  do  living  things  grow  internally,  and  why,  when, 
like  Niagara,  whole  cataracts  of  the  intimate  mole- 
cules of  worn-out  cells  and  detritus  are  pouring  off 
continuously,  and  new  ones  growing  in  everywhere, 
so  that  a  man  is  constantly  dying  and  being  made 
over,  does  the  living  organism  remain  the  same  ?  Is 
not  a  man  with  a  leg  and  arm  off  still  the  same  man  ? 
Is  he  not  the  same  man  as  he  was  years  ago  ?  What 
is  it  that  works  while  we  sleep,  and  never  wearies, 
while  our  consciousness  has  to  sleep  one-third  of  the 
time  in  order  to  work  the  other  two-thirds  ?  What  is 
that  picker  which  travels  through  a  series  of  invisible 
dictionaries  of  forty  thousand  words  each,  and  in- 
stantly put  on  your  tongue  the  word  your  conscious- 
ness feels  the  need  of,  in  any  known  language,  but 
does  not  itself  know  how  to  express  ?  And  when  the 
picker  misses  fire,  as  it  were,  what  is  it  that  pops  the 
missing  word  up,  as  Ladd  says,  "  shot  up  from  the 
hidden  depth  below  "  (indeed,  an  intelligence  with 
knowledge  and  power  has  shot  it  up),  while  you,  per- 
chance, are  talking  about  crops,  when  the  word  was 
wanted  when  you  were  talking  an  hour  ago  about 
Egyptian  hieroglyphs  ?  What  man  is  sufficient  unto 
himself  ?  Yet  what  is  sufficient  at  all  on  this  earth, 
excepting  man  ?  and  he  only,  as  Ladd  says,  when  "the 
gift  of  consciousness"  has  been  bestowedupon  the  mind. 
Far  be  it  from  any  of  us  to  decry  the  practical  re- 


THE  SOLE  ALTERNATIVES  161 

suits  of  science,  but  equally  far  be  it  from  us  to  decry 
the  higher  work  of  those  who  are  able  to  deal  with  the 
foundations  of  science,  and  especially  far  be  it  from 
them  to  decry  what  they  have  never  honestly  tried. 
A  fop  was  asked,  "  Do  you  speak  French  ?  "  and 
replied,  "  Ah,  I  have  nevah  twied,  but  I  daresay  I 
could  if  I  should  twy." 

The  a  priori  professor  of  science,  however,  would 
have  answered :  "  There  is  no  such  thing  as  French  ;  I 
never  speak  anything  but  English,  and  am  proud  of 
it ;  I  have  settled  the  French  question  long  ago,  on 
a  priori  grounds  ;  they  merely  jabber." 

Says  Masson,  in  his  lectures  on  "  Recent  British 
Philosophy,"  before  the  British  Royal  Institution  : 
"  Shall  philosophy  pretend  to  regulate  the  human 
spirit,  and  not  know  what  is  passing  within  it — to 
supervise  and  direct  man's  thinking,  and  not  know 
what  they  are  ?  "  We  can  all  admire,  indeed,  and 
understand,  the  feeling  of  Wordsworth  when  he  says  : 

"  Great  God  !  I'd  rather  be 
A  Pagan  suckled  in  a  creed  outworn, 
So  might  I,  standing  on  this  pleasant  lea, 
Have  glimpses  that  would  make  me  less  forlorn." 

These  great  questions  of  mind  are  not  insoluble  ; 
granted  that  mind  exists — and  who  denies  it  ? — and 
that  it  is  operating  all  around  and  within  us,  it  ought 
to  be  the  simplest  of  all  the  problems  of  science  to 
solve.  And  it  would  have  been  solved  long  ago,  and 
by  the  scientific  method,  had  science  even  tried  to 
solve  it.  Only  to-day  is  it  awakening  to  the  task. 
It  is  shameful  to  say  it,  but  until  recently  it  was  dealt 
with  as  a  mere  metaphysical  superstition,  or  a  sort 
of  brain  secretion,  volatile  and  fugitive.  Yet  mind 
itself  was  the  instrument  they  used  to  deny  the 
existence  of  mind.  As  Emerson  says,  in  his  poem  of 
"  Brahma," 

"  They  reckon  ill  who  leave  me  out, 
When  Me  they  fly,  7  am  the  wings." 

And  it  must  be  solved  or  we  die,  for  such  was 
the  penalty  of  the  riddle  propounded  of  old  by 


162  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

the  Egyptian  sphinx.  Masson  clearly  gives  us  the 
solution  ;  indeed  the  solution  is  everywhere  except 
where  it  was  looked  for.  Says  Masson  :  '  I  cannot 
conceive  anything  as  resulting  from  the  experience 
of  a  zero  ;  and  unless  I  start  with  a  human  mind  de- 
finable as  zero,  I  must  allow  a  very  definite  amount  of 
prior  bequest  in  that  human  mind  wherewith  to  grasp 
and  mould  experience.  Or,  if  empiricism  [materialism] 
pushes  the  dispute  further  back,  .  .  .  still,  at  every 
stage  the  assertion  recurs,  '  We  are  not  yet  at  zero  ; 
something  is  antecedent,  something  structural  and 
predetermined,  even  here.'  Or,  if  at  last,  somewhere 
behind  the  Nebula,  we  do  reach  Zero,  or  Nothingness, 
what  becomes  of  Deity  ?  Is  Deity  at  the  back  of  the 
original  zero  or  Nothingness,  out  of  which  all  else 
has  been  evolved  or  convolved  empirically  ?  Then 
either  Zero  would  have  remained  such,  and,  as  from 
nothing  nothing  can  come,  there  would  have  been  no 
evolution  whatever,  or  else  the  true  origin  of  the 
whole  evolution  is  not  Zero  but  Deity." 

It  is  a  solemn  truth  that  the  alternative  is  either 
Deity  or  nihilism  ;  there  is  no  other.  And  with  a 
Deity  once  granted,  even  so  sceptical  a  leader  as  John 
Stuart  Mill  concedes  that  revelation  is  but  ordinary 
and  normal,  and  to  be  expected. 

And  this  spiritual  revelation  is  the  basis  of  all 
religion,  and  it  is  the  basis  of  all  spiritualism  as 
well. 

And  this  belief  is  not  merely  a  belief,  such  as  the 
childhood  belief  that  the  moon  is  made  of  green  cheese, 
but  like  the  other  old  belief  that  the  moon  influenced 
the  tides,  and  which  science,  after  Newton  had 
pointed  the  way,  long  after  indeed,  took  into  its  body 
and  made  a  part  of  its  structure.  It  is  a  valid  im- 
mutable belief,  this  knowledge  of  the  psychism  of  the 
universe,  and  its  revelations  to  the  kindred  psychism 
of  man,  both  by  direct  evidence  in  all  ages  and  places 
— among  all  mankind — and  by  the  even  still  more 
controlling  fact  that  there  is  no  alternative  ;  it  is 
either  God  or  zero,  and  from  zero,  however  multiplied, 
nothing  can  come.  There  is  no  evolution  from  zero — 
try  it  on  a  slate ;  if  one  boy  has  no  apple  and 


THE  SOLE  ALTERNATIVES  163 

another  boy  has  twice  as  many,  he  will  still  have  no 
apple. 

But  if  we  come  from  God,  little  as  our  psychism  is, 
if  you  multiply  it  by  an  infinite  psychical  universe, 
you  will  have  an  infinite  God,  and,  by  knowing  our- 
selves at  the  best,  we  know  Him  also  ;  and  can  trust, 
honour  and  serve  Him  and  ourselves,  and  carry  out 
His  eternal  purposes. 

Says  Professor  Joseph  Le  Conte,  the  eminent 
geologist  and  biologist,  of  the  University  of  California, 
in  his  "  Religion  and  Science  "  : 

"  That  man  is  an  immortal  spirit  is  the  doctrine  of 
Scripture  :  it  is  more  ;  it  is  the  basis  of  all  religion 
and  morals  and  virtue,  and,  indeed,  all  that  ennobles 
our  humanity.  It  is  also  a  datum,  a  clear  revelation 
of  consciousness.  Belief  in  this  is  immediate,  intuitive 
and  universal  in  all  minds  unplagued  by  metaphysical 
subtleties.  We  may  learn  to  disbelieve,  we  naturally 
believe.  Belief  of  this  rests  on  precisely  the  same 
basis  as  our  belief  in  external  Nature.  The  one  is  a 
direct  revelation  of  sense,  the  other  a  direct  revelation 
of  consciousness.  Both,  therefore,  are  equally 
certain,  far  more  certain  than  anything  can  be  made 
by  proof.  These  are  the  foundations,  the  starting 
points  of  reasoning,  not  the  goal  of  reasoning.  They 
are  the  bases,  the  underlying  condition  of  philosophy, 
not  the  subject  matter  of  philosophy. 

'  There  are,  then,"  he  says,  "  two  bases  of 
philosophy,  in  fact,  two  poles  of  existence — matter 
and  spirit  .  .  .  matter  the  thing  perceived,  spirit  the 
thing  perceiving — matter  the  revelation,  spirit  the 
interpreter — matter  the  passive,  spirit  the  active 
principle.  Without  a  belief  in  spirit,  therefore,  not 
only  can  there  be  no  religion,  no  virtue,  but  there  can 
be  no  philosophy  or  science  ;  there  is  no  longer  any 
significance  in  man  or  in  Nature." 

This  is  the  very  reverse  of  superstition  ;  it  is  the 
acme  of  hard-headed  common-sense  and  demonstra- 
tion and  certain  knowledge. 

And)  see  where  this  psychical  individualism  of 
man,  at  its  best,  leads  us ;  see  what  it  does  for  man's 
brotherhood  and  God's  fatherhood,  and  how  it  takes 


164  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

hold,  with  hooks  of  steel,  of  each  one  of  us,  as  soon  as 
we  see  it  presented  in  the  divine  psychism  of  an  honest 
human  life,  and  how  the  spiritual  power  of  an  eternal 
Fatherhood  rises  in  its  revelation  above  the  human 
creeds  and  the  entanglement  of  sectarian  theology. 


PART    III 


CHAPTER    XXII 

SUMMARY  OF  PARTS  I.  AND  II. 

IN  the  first  part  of  this  work,  I  endeavoured  to  show 
that  religion  was  as  old  and  as  universal  as  mankind ; 
and  that  the  principles  of  religion  were  the  outcome 
of  spiritual  revelation  to  man,  or  else  of  a  primarily 
implanted  revelation  in  man  ;  but  that,  at  all  events, 
no  tribe,  no  race,  no  people,  in  any  age,  was  devoid 
of  religion  ;  and  I  cited  the  most  recent  investigations, 
which  have  fully  overthrown  the  earlier  and  more 
dogmatic  teachings  of  a  less  developed  anthro- 
pology. 

I  also  showed  that  the  basis  of  every  religion  is 
spiritualistic,  that  their  principles  are  those  of  modern 
and  ancient  spiritualisms,  and  that  the  phenomena 
relied  upon  to  establish  them  among  men  were  iden- 
tical with  all  the  various  phenomena  of  spiritualism. 
Even  the  religion  of  Islam,  perhaps  the  most 
rationalistic  of  all  religions,  starts  with  a  transcendent 
miracle  as  its  basis  ;  that  the  Koran  was  not  only  a 
direct  revelation  from  God,  but  was  an  autograph 
from  God,  so  that,  to  alter  or  vary  a  line  or  letter  is  to 
betray  God  Himself  by  forgery. 

I  have  endeavoured  to  show  that  all  historic 
religions  embody  the  same  principles,  and  are  based 
on  the  same  truths,  and  that  the  prehistoric  or  un- 
historic  religions  are  identical  with  these. 

I  have  also  shown  that  in  moral  and  spiritual 
loftiness  the  earlier  religions  are  not  deficient,  but 
that  many  of  them  are  far  higher,  by  any  spiritual 
or  divine  test  that  we  can  apply,  than  many  later 
ones,  and  that  in  all  primitive  religions  the  great 
overgod  is  found  intact,  and  the  recognitions  of 
direct  communication  with  man  are  full  and  explicit, 
167 


i68  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

not  only  between  man  and  God,  but  between  man 
and  individual  spirits. 

I  have  shown  you  what  all  advanced  anthropolo- 
gists now  agree  upon,  that  the  Spencerian  notion  that 
religion  came  from  ghosts  and  dreams  is  absolutely 
futile,  and  falls  not  only  by  its  own  weight,  when  we 
undermine  the  false  data  and  hypotheses  on  which  it 
was  built,  but  totally  fails  to  interpret  the  religions 
of  earlier  peoples,  or  to  account  for  the  phenomena  of 
later  religions. 

Dealing  with  the  Christian  religion,  and  with  the 
Hebrew  faith  and  practice  of  which  it  was  the  out- 
come, I  have  shown  that,  prior  to  the  Reformation 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  whole  Christian  religion, 
without  dissent  or  cavil  anywhere,  was  spiritualistic 
to  the  backbone  ;  but  that  this  spiritualism,  which 
was  precisely  like  the  spiritualism  of  to-day,  had 
become  the  property  of  the  church,  and  was  con- 
demned when  practised  outside  its  sacerdotal  bound- 
ary, while  yet  its  existence  everywhere  was  not  denied, 
either  by  church  or  people. 

I  showed  also  that  Luther's  revolt  was  only 
possible  by  depriving  the  old  church  of  its  spiritual 
dominance,  for  that  church  believed  and  taught 
spiritualism,  that  both  it  and  its  religion  were  from 
Christ  and  His  apostles,  and  not  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment, but  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  church  preceded 
and  produced  the  New  Testament,  and  was  the  direct 
and  spiritual  body  of  Christ,  and  nothing  else. 

To  give  the  Protestant  revolt  any  locus  at  all,  it 
was  necessary  to  repudiate  the  whole  spiritualism 
of  the  time,  as  claimed  by  the  old  church,  and  to  fall 
back  on  the  New  Testament  as  a  purely  historic 
document,  or  a  collection  of  historic  documents. 

This  involved  two  fallacies,  but  this  position  was 
absolutely  necessary  if  the  revolt,  as  carried  out,  was 
to  succeed  at  all.  I  am  not  denying  the  beneficence 
of,  or  necessity  for,  the  revolt ;  I  am  merely  citing 
facts. 

The  first  fallacy  was  that  while  the  spiritualism 
of  their  own  day,  in  the  old  church,  was  denied  by 
the  reformers,  the  same  spiritualism  had  nevertheless 


SUMMARY  OF  PARTS  I.  AND  II.        169 

given  the  Protestants  their  own  Bible  ;  for  the  validity 
of  the  canon,  which  cast  out  three-fourths  of  the 
originally  accepted  documents,  was  only  possible  by 
a  great  spiritualistic  intervention,  and  this  occurred 
but  a  few  centuries  before  the  Protestant  revolt,  and 
long  after  the  time  of  Christ.  And  hence,  the  old 
church  asked,  why  not  such  intervention  afterwards  ? 

The  second  fallacy  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  author- 
ship of  most  of  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament 
was  anonymous.  Hence,  in  the  absence  of  direct, 
continuing,  spiritualistic  revelation,  valid  to  make  or 
unmake  the  whole  record,  there  was  no  evidence  of 
any  authentic  revelation  or  Bible  at  all. 

These  errors  forced  Protestantism  into  a  position 
which  has  done  enormous  harm.  It  was  the  concep- 
tion of  a  great  anonymous  God,  who  had  made  a 
mutilated  and  written  record,  and  left  it  for  man, 
and  then  abdicated  until  the  far-off  time  of  the 
promised  judgment.  As  a  consequence,  materialistic 
science,  then  about  being  born,  uniting  in  this  crusade, 
which  suited  its  needs  exactly,  flung  natural  causation, 
instead  of  divine  control,  into  the  government  of  the 
universe,  and  atheism  made  common  cause  with  this 
practically  suspended  theism. 

Says  Romanes :  "  The  conflict  of  science  and  re- 
ligion has  always  arisen  from  one  common  ground  of 
agreement,  or  fundamental  postulate  of  both  parties 
—without  which  indeed  it  would  plainly  have  been 
impossible  that  any  conflict  could  have  arisen, 
inasmuch  as  there  would  then  have  been  no  field  for 
battle.  .  .  .  Quite  apart  from  modern  science  all  the 
difficulties  on  the  side  of  intellect  (or  reason)  which 
religious  belief  has  ever  encountered  in  the  past,  or  can 
ever  encounter  in  the  future,  whether  in  the  individual 
or  the  race,  arise,  and  arise  exclusively,  from  the  self- 
same ground  of  this  highly  dubious  hypothesis.  The 
hypothesis  or  fundamental  postulate  in  question  is, 
//  there  be  a  personal  God,  He  is  not  immediately  con- 
cerned with  natural  causation" 

Here  we  see  the  momentous  consequence  of 
divorcing  religion  from  a  continuously  acting, 
spiritualistic  volition  and  revelation,  and  so  divorcing 


170  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

it  from  its  basic  truths  and  phenomena,  in  fact,  from 
all  that  is  commonly  called  "  spiritualism." 

In  the  second  part  of  this  paper  I  endeavoured  to 
show  why  modern  science,  as  erroneously  conceived 
of,  has  failed  to  investigate  the  universal  spiritualistic 
phenomena  which  crowded  upon  it  on  every  side  ; 
that  this  failure  was  due  to  an  a  priori,  a  prepossession, 
a  state  of  mind  which  assumed  before  investigation 
that  there  was  nothiri£  to  investigate  ;  and  I  showed 
that  this  a  priori  was  as  gross  a  superstition  as  that  of 
the  lowest  and  most  degraded  savages  ;  nay,  a  grosser 
one. 

I  showed  that  whenever  scientific  men  investigated 
these  phenomena  they  were  convinced  of  their 
actuality,  and  that  those  scientific  writers  who  re- 
fused to  investigate  were  obliged  to  sustain  their 
published  theses,  and  other  writings,  by  perverting 
or  ignoring  opposing  facts,  and  suppressing  all 
opposing  evidence. 

I  also  endeavoured  to  show  that  that  question  was 
not  one  of  mere  communication  between  those  now 
living  and  the  spiritual  individualities  of  those  already 
dead,  but  that  the  new  psychology  involved  much 
more,  and  that  probably  integrations  were  at  hand 
which  would  include  all  apparently  supernormal 
phenomena,  without  actually  being  limited  in  inter- 
pretation to  any  single  one,  or  any  single  class  of 
these,  itself. 

I  also  endeavoured  to  show  that  the  physical 
sciences,  dealing  simply  with  the  surrounding  and 
temporary  phenomena  of  physics,  were  totally  in- 
capable of  investigating,  with  these  data  alone,  any 
of  the  propositions  on  which  the  physical  sciences 
themselves  were  founded  ;  that  by  these  sciences 
alone  we  could  know  nothing  of  causation,  of  the 
infinite,  of  time  and  space,  of  life  or  of  mind,  of  matter 
even,  or  of  spirit.  That  what  the  physical  sciences 
really  could  take  cognisance  of,  so  to  speak,  were  such 
facts  as  a  set  of  barnacles  on  a  mighty  ocean  steamship 
could  consider,  when  carried  along  through  unknown 
seas,  neither  knowing  to  what  they  were  attached,  nor 
anything  of  the  mechanism  or  structure  of  the  vessel 


SUMMARY  OF  PARTS  I.  AND  II.       171 

which  carried  them,  or  of  the  minds  and  forces  which 
directed  and  moved  them,  or  of  the  boundless  uni- 
verse around.  It  could  not  be  otherwise.  And  I 
have  shown,  from  the  words  of  the  most  eminent 
of  the  teachers  of  physical  science,  that  these  state- 
ments are  true,  and  that  the  actual  concrete  achieve- 
ments of  physical  science  in  these  directions  are  mostly 
confined  to  simply  observing,  recording  and  classify- 
ing, the  facts  which  came  before  them,  and  often  not 
even  most  of  these. 

In  the  third  part  of  this  work  I  shall  en- 
deavour to  show  that  the  whole  basis  of  materialism 
is  a  mistake  in  source,  as  well  as  in  fact. 

I  use  the  term  "  materialism  "  not  in  a  restricted 
sense  as  dealing  with  our  conceptions  of  what  we  re- 
gard as  matter,  but  in  the  accepted  broader  sense,  as 
contradistinguished  from  transcendentalism ;  as 
synonymous  with  empiricism,  in  which  the  material 
or  substance,  or  phenomenal,  is  self-sufficient  in 
itself ;  as  automatic,  so  to  speak,  and  as  divorced 
from  any  controlling,  extraneous  or  invoking 
spiritual  intelligence  and  control ;  as,  in  fact,  as 
stated  by  Romanes,  a  universe  in  which  no  per- 
sonal God  is  concerned  in  causation,  in  which 
divine  volition  is  not  the  ever-present  factor,  and 
in  which  spiritualism  is  but  a  man-implanted  super- 
stition. 

I  shall  endeavour  to  show  that  the  great  thinkers 
and  writers,  on  whose  testimony  the  popular  views  of 
believers  in  materialism  rest,  not  one  of  them,  ever 
taught  or  believed  anything  of  the  sort,  that  they  have 
been  totally  misunderstood,  and  that  their  actual 
beliefs  and  teachings  were  quite  the  opposite  ;  when 
not  the  opposite,  that  they  were  led  into  failures  con- 
ceded by  themselves  ;  and  that  when  such  beliefs 
were  justly  even  attributed  to  them,  before  they 
ceased  writing  they  explained  or  recanted  the  views 
attributed  to  them  ;  and  in  the  single  case  of  Haeckel, 
that  he  acknowledged  his  incompetency  to  deal  with 
the  problems  he  treated,  that  his  facts  were  scienti- 
fically misstated,  and  that,  finally,  the  very  authority, 
Romanes,  on  whom  he  most  relied,  after  Haeckel's 


172  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

work  had  appeared,  and  after  Romanes  had  actually 
studied  the  questions  for  himself,  repudiated  the 
whole  scheme  of  Haeckel,  and  redemonstrated,  and 
fully  accepted,  the  spiritualistic  position  as  already 
established. 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

THE   METHODS   AND   ACQUISITIONS   OF   SCIENCE 

THE  methods  of  science  are  beyond  all  praise,  but 
they  are  simply  the  methods  of  common-sense.  As 
Davy  Crockett  said :  "  Be  sure  you  are  right,  then  go 
ahead,"  or  as  the  old  English  cook-book  said  :  "  First, 
catch  your  hare."  Adding  to  these  the  common- 
sense  maxim  that  no  man  can  be  judge,  jury,  witness 
and  executioner  at  the  same  time,  we  have  the  whole 
method  of  science  in  a  nutshell. 

When  pursued  with  infinite  patience,  it  is  God- 
given  ;  when  pursued  with  earnest  industry,  it  is  an 
inspiration  ;  when  pursued  with  fairness  and  breadth 
and  unbiassed  honesty,  it  is  divine. 

But  it  is  hedged  with  human  limitations,  and  the 
scientific  judgment  of  one  decade  is  not  that  of  the 
previous  decade,  and  may  not  be  at  all  the  scientific 
judgment  of  the  next.  Flammarion,  the  French 
astronomer,  relates  that  a  scientific  friend  of  his, 
Eugene  Nus,  sardonically  dedicated  one  of  his  works 
as  follows  : — 

"  To  the  Memory  of  all  Savants, 

Breveted,  Patented, 

Crowned  with  palms,  decorated  and  buried, 

Who  have  been  opposed  to  the  rotation  of  the  earth, 

To  meteorites, 

To  galvanism, 

To  the  circulation  of  the  blood, 
To  waves  of  light, 
To  lightning  rods, 
To  daguerreotypes, 
To  steam-power, 
To  propellers, 
To  steamboats, 

To  railroads, 
To  lighting  by  gas, 

To  magnetism, 
And  all  the  rest.'! 

173 


174  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

The  arraignment  is  not  overdrawn  ;  on  the  con- 
trary it  might  be  greatly  lengthened.  And  this  re- 
lates to  little  facts  which  came  directly  under  scientific 
cognisance.  When  we  reach  the  basic  facts  which 
alone  make  the  acquirements  of  science  valid,  the 
whole  field  is  befogged,  and  there  is  very  little  actual 
light  of  science  anywhere. 

For  example,  the  physical  sciences  are  all  based  on 
gravitation,  and  yet,  as  I  have  already  stated,  there 
is  not  a  man  of  science  in  the  world  who  can  tell  you 
what  gravitation  is.  Not  only  this,  but  it  contra- 
dicts every  axiom  of  physical  science  itself.  A  thing 
cannot  act  where  it  is  not  ;  and  yet  gravitation  acts 
across  "  void  "  spaces  of  millions  of  millions  of  miles. 
A  force  cannot  be  provided  with  hooks  to  reach  across 
space  and  pull  objects,  nor  can  there  be  a  gravitational 
push,  for  Maxwell  showed  that  lines  of  pushing  force 
by  their  impingement  would  set  every  bit  of  concrete 
matter  in  the  universe  ablaze  in  ten  seconds. 

Chemical  affinity  works  in  unknown  and  diverse 
ways  in  different  substances,  yet  no  one  can  tell  why. 
The  atomic  theory  has  long  been  known  to  be  unten- 
able, in  fact,  it  contradicts  the  principles  of  specific 
heat,  and  is  only  held  to  as  a  working  hypothesis ;  yet 
what  is  there  to  take  its  place  ?  Nothing  which 
science  has  found. 

We  have  predicated  the  ether  to  explain  the 
phenomena  of  light,  heat  and  electricity,  yet  the  ether 
is  altogether  incompatible  with  any  other  physical 
substance  known  to  science.  We  even  hold  fast  to 
the  emission-terminology  of  light,  while  we  have 
abandoned  the  emission  theory  for  another,  which, 
itself,  from  phenomena  which  it  cannot  explain,  is 
doubtful. 

No  one  can  explain  a  sun-spot ;  no  one  can  explain 
the  proper  motions  in  all  directions,  and  at  all 
velocities,  of  the  stars  ;  no  one  can  explain  anything 
that  really  needs  explaining  ;  while  Kant's  table  of 
antinomies  gave  a  series  of  scientific  propositions,  one 
alternative  of  each  of  which  must  be  true,  yet  of 
which  both,  scientifically  speaking,  are  inconceivable. 
Who  knows  what  infinity  is  ?  and  yet  who  knows 


METHODS  AND  ACQUISITIONS         175 

how  there  can  possibly  be  only  a  finite  universe  ?  In 
measuring  an  infinite  universe  an  inch  and  a  thousand 
million  miles  are  precisely  of  the  same  dimensions.  If 
we  descend  the  scale,  we  can  divide  and  subdivide 
to  infinity,  and  yet  one  rotating  system,  infinitely 
small,  is  relatively  as  large  as  our  own  solar  system,  or 
any  other,  however  large,  and  we  have  not  yet  begun 
in  our  descent  to  the  infinitely  little. 

The  real  problems  are  not  investigated  by  science 
at  all.  We  spend  our  time  in  teaching  school-book 
science,  that  is,  sure-enough  science,  and  such  men  as 
Sir  William  Crookes  and  Lord  Kelvin  look  on  aghast. 

When  the  phonograph  was  first  exhibited  before 
the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  says  Flammarion. 
a  distinguished  member  rose  and  demanded  that  the 
miserable  ventriloquist  be  dragged  out  from  under  the 
machine,  and  exposed  to  the  wrath  of  the  genuine 
men  of  science  there  present.  And  six  months  later, 
when  phonographs  were  selling  at  ten  dollars  apiece, 
the  same  savant  proclaimed  again,  on  pure  a  priori] 
that  "  vile  metal  could  never  reproduce  human 
phonation*" 

lake, "by  chance,  a  mathematical  problem  out  of 
the  mass  ;  Jevons  says  that  the  chances  are  a  million 
to  one  that  it  cannot  be  solved  at  all,  and  that  we 
do  not  even  know  how  to  approach  it.  Yet  Sir  John 
Herschel  tells  us  that  the  atoms,  those  wonderful 
atoms,  "  involve  all  the  ologies  and  all  the  ometries, 
and  in  these  days,"  he  says,  "  we  know  something  of 
what  that  implies.  Their  movements,  their  inter- 
changes, their  hates  and  loves,  their  attractions  and 
repulsions,  their  correlations,  their  what  not,  are  all 
determined  on  the  very  instant.  There  is  no  hesita- 
tion, no  blundering,  no  trial  and  error.  A  problem 
of  dynamics  which  would  drive  Lagrange  mad  is 
solved  instanter.  A  differential  equation  which, 
algebraically  written  out,  would  belt  the  earth,  is  in- 
tegrated in  an  eye-twinkle  ;  and  all  the  numerical 
calculation  worked  out  in  a  way  to  frighten  Zerah 
Colburn,  George  Bidder,  or  Jedediah  Buxton." 

But  he  does  not  pause  here  ;  like  Romanes,  he 
pursues  force  to  its  ultimate,  and  declares  that  force, 


176  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

any  force,  all  force  of  which  we  have  cognisance  "  is 
connected  with  volition,  and  by  inevitable  conse- 
quence with  motive,  with  intellect,  and  with  all  those 
attributes  of  mind  in  which  personality  consists." 

It  was  against  this  spiritually  manifested  basis 
that  Herbert  Spencer  rang  the  changes  of  his  a  priori, 
which  settled  it  without  investigation  ;  and  in  which 
Huxley  took  little  interest,  and  Hume  dreamed  that 
such  things  were  to  be  gotten  rid  of  as  superstitions, 
by  the  popular  vote  of  a  few  friends  in  the  gallery. 
Not  searching  in  these  fertile  fields,  where  then  did 
the  men  of  physical  science  of  those  days  search  ?  In 
those  fields  of  which  Sir  John  Herschel,  in  continuing, 
says  :  ' '  Will  without  Motive,  Power  without  Design, 
Thought  opposed  to  Reason,  would  be  admirable  in 
explaining  a  chaos,  but  would  render  little  aid  in 
accounting  for  anything  else."  It  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  in  accounting  for  the  universe  by  a  series 
of  accidents  without  significance,  the  accounting 
itself  is  one  of  these  very  accidents,  and  is  itself  equally 
without  significance.  The  motto  must  be  "  All  or 
none." 

Paul  Janet,  writing  so  long  ago  as  1864,  when 
rational  psychology,  we  may  say,  was  just  emerging, 
wrote  in  the  preface  to  his  work,  "The  Materialism 
of  the  Present  Day,"  as  follows  : — 

"The  fact  which  explains  the  success  of  materialism 
is  an  inclination,  natural  to  the  human  mind,  and  very 
powerful  now — viz.  the  inclination  to  unity.  People 
want  to  explain  all  things  by  one  single  cause,  one 
single  phenomenon,  one  single  law.  This  tendency 
is,  no  doubt,  a  useful  and  necessary  one  ;  without 
it,  no  science  would  be  possible  ;  but  of  how  many 
errors  is  it  not  the  source  ?  How  many  imaginary 
analogies,  how  many  important  omissions,  how  many 
fanciful  creations  have  resulted  in  philosophy  from 
the  love  of  a  useless  simplicity  ?  No  one  denies,  of 
course,  that  unity  is  the  ultimate  substratum  of 
things,  both  at  the  beginning  and  at  the  end.  No  one 
denies  that  one  and  the  same  harmony  governs  the 
visible  world  and  the  invisible  world,  bodies  and 
spirits.  .  .  .  No  doubt  matter  and  mind  must  have 


METHODS  AND  ACQUISITIONS         177 

a  common  reason  in  the  thought  of  God,  and  there 
it  is  that  we  should  seek  their  ultimate  unity.  But 
what  eye  has  penetrated  so  far  ?  Who  can  imagine 
that  he  has  explained  that  origin  common  to  all 
creatures  ?  Who  can  do  so  except  him  who  is  the 
reason  of  everything  ?  Above  all,  what  weakness, 
what  ignorance  it  is  to  limit  the  real  existence  of 
things  to  those  fugitive  appearances  which  our  senses 
perceive  ;  to  take  our  imaginings  as  the  measure  of 
creation,  and  to  worship,as  the  new  materialists  do, not 
even  the  atom  which  had,  at  least,  some  semblance  of 
solidity,  but  an  '  I  know  not  what '  ;  nameless  in  every 
language,  and  which  we  might  call  '  infinite  dust '  !  " 

Can  we  now  see  why  so  eminent  a  man  of 
science  as  Huxley  justly  drew  the  physical  circle  of 
solid  and  sure  enough  scientific  achievement  so  small 
that  he  could  advise  us  to  neglect  as  worthless  even  the 
minute  residuum  left  within  its  invisible  boundaries  ? 

Surely  there  is  ample  room  here  for  modesty,  but 
except  among  the  very  greatest  leaders  of  science 
we  find  very  little  of  it, and  among  specialists, as  a  rule, 
none  at  all.  All  honour  to  such  leaders  as  rule  the 
world  of  science,  but  let  us  not  be  beguiled  by  the 
imitation,  school-book  science,  which  claims  and 
gives,  as  solid  chunks  of  wisdom  and  demonstration, 
crude  speculations  presented  as  facts,  which  disprove 
themselves  as  soon  as  printed,  and  which  will  not  bear 
the  test  of  even  a  penny-dip  without  instant  disap- 
pearance. 

Someone  has  said  to  me :  '  You  are  hard  on 
science  "  ;  I  am  not  hard  on  science  ;  I  was  born  into 
an  atmosphere  of  science,  I  breathed  it  in  the  home 
circle,  I  have  always  loved  and  followed  science,  and 
for  the  past  forty  years  I  have  done  almost  nothing 
else.  Science  is  systematised  knowledge,  and  far  be 
it  from  me  to  decry  knowledge  at  all,  and  still  further 
to  decry  the  systematisation  of  knowledge.  But 
when  I  see  the  bigotry  of  men  who  claim  to  speak  for 
science,  but  the  latchets  of  whose  shoes  they  are  un- 
worthy to  unloose,  when  I  find  sham  and  charlatanry 
take  the  place  of  honesty  and  investigation,  when  I 
find  the  whole  basis  of  genuine  science  flouted  and 

M 


178  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

repudiated  in  the  name  of  an  a  priori,  which  is  the 
exact  measure  of  a  man's  unfailing  ignorance  and 
conceit ;  then  I  want  to  sound  just  one  note  of  warn- 
ing, for  an  intellectual  shame  has  been  put  upon 
science  which  it  does  not  deserve,  and  should  not  be 
made  to  bear. 

What  is  wanted  is  to  see  science  put  on  her  spec- 
tacles, and  get  honestly  down  to  hard  work  on  these 
difficult  but  universal  and  most  important  subjects. 

When  that  time  comes,  and  it  is  rapidly  coming, 
psychism,  in  its  broadest  sense,  will  be  tried  by  a  jury 
of  its  peers,  and  the  verdict  will  be  in  accordance  with 
the  evidence  of  all  mankind,  everywhere  and  from 
the  beginning,  and  will  not  represent  merely  a  self- 
sufficient  ignoring  of  the  whole  testimony,  and  an 
a  priori  pre judgment  of  the  whole  case.  The  facts 
will  not  be  superciliously  thrown  aside,  the  evidence 
will  not  be  perverted  or  garbled,  inconvenient  facts 
will  not  be  suppressed,  the  truth  will  be  elicited,  as  it 
would  be  by  skilled  lawyers,  and  the  opinion  rendered, 
as  it  would  be  by  able  and  impartial  judges,  and  science 
will  then  win  a  crown  of  imperishable  glory.  Nay, 
more,  in  that  day  the  judgment  will  be  found  re- 
flected upon  and  applicable  to  many  other  great 
problems,  now  the  despair  of  science,  and  solid 
achievements  will  come  in  all  directions. 

I  have  also  been  asked,  if  science  has  so  often 
changed  its  position,  how  do  you  know  that  what  you 
claim  as  scientifically  true  of  these  demonstrations 
and  conclusions  will  not  also  be  displaced  in  favour 
of  something  else  ? 

I  do  not  know,  but  I  do  know  that  psychology  is 
coming  to  its  own,  simply  because  every  other  ex- 
planation has  gone  to  the  wall  as  inadequate  and  un- 
supported while  this  is  left,  and  is  the  only  explanation 
left  to  account  for  the  facts.  I  do  not  believe,  to  use 
a  State  of  Maine  colloquialism,  that  we  are  going  to 
"  learn  dumber."  Philosophy  in  every  age  and  of 
every  grade  has  always  held  to  the  spiritual  theory. 
Not  a  valid  system  of  philosophy  has  ever  been  pre- 
sented of  which  this  is  not  true.  Science,  to  save  its 
own  position,  has  always  contended  that  philosophy 


METHODS  AND  ACQUISITIONS        179 

was  worthless,  that  it  was  speculation  and  imagina- 
tion. But  now  science  has  proven  itself  worthless  to 
account  for  its  own  facts,  and  cannot  explain  its  own 
fundamentals  ;  and  nothing  is  left  but  to  take  up 
the  flouted  problems,  and  go  over  the  abundance  of 
evidence  from  clouds  of  honest  witnesses,  and  for 
science  to  deal  with  these  problems  in  a  wider  way, 
and  then,  unless  the  universe  and  mankind  are  one 
huge  and  ghastly  jest,  we  will  have  to  land  in 
transcendentalism,  and  when  science  examines 
transcendentalism,  as  it  examines  light,  heat  and 
electricity,  it  will  find  that  these  problems  and  those 
of  the  other  phenomena  of  nature  are  identical.  If 
there  is  a  greater  integration  at  hand,  which  will 
include  all  the  phenomena  of  psychism,  it  can  only 
be  by  including  the  physical  as  well.  The  super- 
natural will  have  disappeared,  but  the  supernormal 
will  remain. 

And  I  know  this  ;  that  never  has  a  universal 
consensus  prevailed  among  mankind  in  which  further 
research  has  not  demonstrated  the  presence  of  a  great 
truth  ;  that  the  phenomena  encountered,  not  only 
in  spiritualism,  but  in  every  branch  of  religion  and 
science,  nay,  of  common  life  even,  are  inexplicable, 
except  by  taking  in  psychism  as  a  prime  factor  ;  and 
that  the  problems  become  simpler  every  time  the  base 
is  broadened,  and  the  demonstrations  become  clearer 
and  surer  in  the  same  proportion.  Everything  is 
leading  directly  away  from  brute  matter  as  it  was  once 
taught,  into  mind  as  it  expands  and  broadens  before 
and  around  us,  and  mind,  which  is  what  we  think 
with,  can  never  be  displaced,  so  long  as  we  have  to  use 
it  to  think  with  ;  but  must  improve  and  increase  as 
rapidly  and  as  certainly  as  we  dispassionately  take 
hold,  observe,  study,  think  and  demonstrate.  The 
knowledge  of  infinite  things  is  within  our  grasp  ;  shall 
we  take  it  ? 

Scientific  teachers  have  been  in  the  habit  of  speak- 
ing too  much  e%  cathedra.  It  has  been  said  that  much 
of  the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the  clergy  has  been  due 
to  the  fact,  that  when  preachers  stand  up  in  their 
puJpits  and  jaw,  nobody  else  has  a  right  to  jaw  back. 


i8o  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

The  Bible  tells  us  that  the  countenance  of  a  friend 
sharpeneth  the  countenance  of  a  friend,  and  that  is 
what  is  happening  to-day  with  science.  As  Professor 
De  Morgan  said  of  those  pseudo-teachers,  "They  need 
taming,  and  will  get  it  ?  They  wear  a  priest's  cast- 
off  garb,  dyed  to  escape  detection."  Such  people 
need  to  rub  against  each  other  and  against  other 
people  more  and  harder. 

Do  not  for  a  moment  imagine  that  all  men  of 
science  are  of  that  ilk.  A  third  of  a  century  or  more 
ago  the  prospect  was  black  indeed  ;  they  were  manu- 
facturing, or  going  to  manufacture,  living  protoplasm 
in  gallipots  ;  and  believed  and  taught  that  the 
physical  basis  of  life  was  a  chemical  glue,  crawling, 
or  getting  ready  to  crawl,  all  over  the  bottom  of  the 
sea  ;  and  that,  with  but  another  short  step,  it  could 
be  compounded  in  the  chemist's  laboratory.  But 
living  protoplasm  never  was  so  compounded,  and  it 
never  will  be  ;  for  we  now  know  that  living  protoplasm 
is  a  living  machine,  and,  like  all  operative  machines, 
can  only  be  produced  by  intelligence  of  a  purposive 
character  ;  and  with  the  general  disappearance  of  this 
school  slowly  passed  away  the  dark  clouds,  and  a  new 
era  dawned. 

But  we  must  not  forget  that  the  fault  was  not 
altogether  with  these  teachers  ;  new  means,  and,  in 
fact,  whole  new  sciences,  came  into  existence  almost 
with  their  disappearance,  and  their  greatest  crime, 
for  some  blunders  are  worse  than  crimes,  was  their 
dogmatising  on  insufficient  data.  Of  this  they  were 
guilty,  and  thereby  they  betrayed  science,  and  fed 
the  lowest  passions  of  an  ignorant  and  credulous 
public. 

The  newer  and  greater  psychologists  and  men  of 
science  and  philosophy  are  all  with  us  to-day.  What 
we  have  to  encounter  now  is  that  dumb  inertia  born 
in  those  old,  black  days  of  brute  matter  and  em- 
pirical materialism  ;  and  in  its  remaining  progeny, 
those  half-taught  followers  who,  like  clay-eaters,  stick 
to  their  diet  of  mud,  because  they  stopped  learning, 
when  their  old  half-blind  leaders  ascended  to  heaven 
and  learned  better. 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

THE   NEW   PSYCHOLOGY 

WHAT  galaxies  of  undying  names  now  blaze  in  the 
sky  of  a  redeemed,  a  re-created  psychology,  based 
on  psychic  life  ! 

In  Great  Britain,  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  Sir  William 
Crookes,  Professor  Barrett,  Balfour  Stewart,  Tait, 
J .  J .  Thompson  (brother  of  Lord  Kelvin),  Lord  Kelvin 
himself,  just  deceased,  Balfour,  Mrs  Sidgwick,  Mrs 
Verrall,  Piddington,  Graham,  Sandeman,  Freer,  Kidd, 
Myers,  Bramwell,  Podmore,  Momerie,  Warschauer, 
Sir  Archibald  Geikie,  Lord  Rayleigh,  Alfred  Russel 
Wallace,  Schiller,  Leaf,  Mallock,  Lang,  Sully,  Ward, 
Schofield,  and  a  host  of  others  ;  in  America,  Professor 
Conn,  Professor  James,  Shaler,  Thomson,  Le  Conte, 
Brinton,  Hilprecht,  Hyslop,  President  Butler, 
President  Van  Nor  den,  Nevius,  Boris-Sidis,  Langley, 
of  the  Smithsonian,  Brooks,  Gibier,  Jordan,  Stallo, 
Quackenbos,  President  King,  Hodgson,  dead  but 
yesterday,  as  it  were,  and  whose  loss  the  world  de- 
plores ;  in  France,  Richet,  Flammarion,  Flournoy, 
Recejac,  Dujardin,  Du  Bois-Reymond,  Du  Prel, 
Janet,  Ribot,  Binet ;  in  Italy,  Balbiani,  Vignoli  and 
others  ;  in  Germany,  Baer,  Virchow,  Von  Hartmann, 
Wundt,  Zollner,  Fechner,  Pfeffer,  Gruber,  Fol, 
Strasburger,  Engelmann,  Nussbaum,  Klebs,  Zopf, 
Biitchli,  Stein,  Kiinstler,  Lochman,  Ehrenberg, 
Bunge,  Koelliker,  and  a  hundred  others,  even  De  Vries 
and  Weismann,  nor  can  we  leave  out  Haeckel,  who  in 
his  later  writings  unconsciously  concedes  so  much 
against  materialism  ;  and  these  names  are  but  a  small 
sparkle,  as  it  were,  out  of  a  radiant  sunburst.  The 
whole  psychological  world  has  awakened. 

As  it  is  a  victory  of  the  higher  over  the  lower, 
181 


182  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

of  intelligence  over  ignorance,  of  demonstration  over 
a  priori,  of  honest  scientific  methods  over  a  physical 
hypothesis  which  begins  with  the  world  around  us 
and  runs  into  a  cut  de  sac  both  backwards  and  for- 
wards ;  as  it  is  a  vindication  of  both  philosophy  and 
science,  and  a  recognition  as  well  of  the  loftiness  and 
dignity  of  man  and  his  universal  mental  structure 
and  belief  ;  as  it  cannot  fail  to  lead  to  a  living  know- 
ledge of  man's  brotherhood  and  God's  fatherhood, 
instead  of  a  vague  and  ineffective  routine,  and  so 
transform  all  our  ethics,  and  make  oppression  and 
selfishness  opprobrious,  as  it  must ;  and  as  it  spells 
freedom,  it  inevitably  points  to  a  higher  and  fuller 
future  life.     But  there  is  one  eminent  writer  and  man 
of  science  of  whom  I  wish  to  speak  more  especially, 
because  my  own  experiences  have  been  a  humble 
counterpart  of  his.     It  is  the  late  lamented  Romanes. 
Born  and  nurtured  in  a  somewhat  loose  orthodoxy, 
as  years  passed  on  there  came  doubt,  then  infidelity, 
and  surrender  to  materialism  ;  then  again,  as  the  work 
went  on,  and  the  horizon  widened,  doubt  once  more, 
but  this  time  doubt  of  materialism,  and  then  came  like 
a  rush  the  fierce  demand  for  more  and  harder  work, 
continued  for  years,   for   deeper  investigation,   for 
broader  study,  and  demonstration  followed  demon- 
stration, the  old  black  structure  of  nihilism  split  into 
cracks,  its  lath  and  plaster  fell  away,  and  the  whole 
crumbled  before  the  light  of  investigation  and  trial, 
and  at  last  there  came  final  certainty  of  the  dominat- 
ing truth,  and  intellectual  peace  and  spiritual  rest. 
Among  the  great  factors  of  these  demonstrations 
was  the  study  of  the  psychism  of  lower  animals,  the 
psychology  of  living  creatures  too  minute  to  be  seen 
except  with  high-power  microscopes  ;    not  merely 
monocellular  organisms,  but  living  forms  far  below 
the  cell  itself,  and  which  heretofore  had  been  wholly 
unknown  and  unsuspected.     Here  are  thinking,  feel- 
ing, sporting,  living  creatures,  with  memory,  friend- 
ship, love,  with  likes  and  dislikes,  and  manifesting  the 
power  of  deliberate  choice  ;  in  fact,  with  all  the  acts 
and  movements,  with  all  the  mental  and  psychical 
attributes  manifested  in  man,  in  kind,  and,  in  many 


THE  NEW  PSYCHOLOGY  183 

cases,  with  a  wondrously  intelligent  foresight.  Here 
we  have  choice,  intention,  memory,  fright  ;  as  Binet 
says  :  "In  both  vegetable  and  animal  micro- 
organisms phenomena  are  encountered  which  pertain 
to  a  highly  complex  psychology,  and  which  appear 
quite  out  of  proportion  to  the  minute  mass  that  serves 
them  as  a  substratum." 

It  is  the  microscopical  mass,  the  matter,  the 
material,  which  serves  these  living  bodies  as  a  sub- 
stratum, and  here  we  find  the  same  wonderful  psychi- 
cal phenomena  working  in  this  substratum  (and  only 
restricted  in  degree  by  physiological  structure),  as 
that  which  surrounds  and  penetrates  living  man 
to-day.  If  this  was  evolution,  it  did  not  come  by 
slow  degrees,  but  came  with  a  leap.  I  am  sure,  I 
know,  that  no  competent  observer  can  possibly 
penetrate  these  arcana,  and  not  return  as  firmly 
convinced  of  God  and  religion,  of  psychic  life  apart 
from  physical  structure,  and  living  structure  built  up 
alone  by  the  living  hand  of  a  living  and  mind-giving 
God,  as  he  is  convinced  that  he  can  see,  and  think 
and  reason.  It  is  a  divine  panorama  moving  before 
his  eyes  ;  it  is  a  living  garden  which  blossoms  out  in 
man  into  human  soul  and  highest  reason  ;  and  it  is  a 
psychic  life  which  would  shame  man,  if  man  himself 
had  not  this  psychic  life  as  well,  and  of  it  much  more. 
And  it  bears  widespread  the  buds,  not  the  promise, 
but  the  living  buds  of  future  life.  God  opens  wide 
all  His  doors  down  there. 

George  John  Romanes,  Cambridge  graduate,  the 
young  friend  and  companion,  pupil,  able  assistant  and 
co-worker  with  Charles  Darwin,  and  his  expounder 
and  commentator  after  his  teacher's  death,  orthodox 
in  childhood,  was  at  once  immersed  in  the  world  of 
scientific  blackness  and  materialism  of  his  day,  and 
followed  physical  biology  as  one  of  its  most  learned 
and  able  students  and  writers.  His  works  are  in  every 
library ;  his  fame  is  world-wide. 

In  those  darker  days  from  which,  while  ever 
striving  to  emerge,  he  had  not  yet  emerged,  in  1878, 
he  published  a  short  treatise,  "  A  Candid  Examination 
of  Theism,"  which  was  the  best  and  strongest  of  the 


184  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

books  till  then  written  opposing  the  spiritual  philo- 
sophy of  man,  and  with  a  sceptical  conclusion,  which 
was  extensively  and  triumphantly  quoted  by  the 
opponents  of  true  psychology.  No  wonder  Haeckel 
loved  Romanes — then. 

But  twenty  years  later,  and  not  long  before  his 
death,  he  entered  upon  a  new  work,  "  A  Candid 
Examination  of  Religion,"  in  which  he  says :  "  When 
I  wrote  the  preceding  treatise  I  did  not  sufficiently 
appreciate  the  immense  importance  of  human  nature 
as  distinguished  from  physical  nature,  in  any  inquiry 
touching  Theism.  But  since  then  I  have  seriously 
studied  anthropology  (including  the  science  of  com- 
parative religions),  psychology  and  metaphysics,  with 
the  result  of  clearly  seeing  that  human  nature  is  the 
most  important  part  of  nature  as  a  whole  whereby  to 
investigate  the  theory  of  Theism.  This  I  ought  to 
have  anticipated  on  merely  a  priori  grounds,  and  no 
doubt  should  have  perceived,  had  I  not  been  too  much 
immersed  in  merely  physical  research." 

His  final  conclusion  is  as  follows  : — "  1st.  Gradual 
evolution  is  in  analogy  with  God's  other  work. 
2nd.  It  does  not  leave  Him  without  witness  at 
any  time  during  the  historical  period.  3rd.  It 
gives  ample  scope  for  persevering  research  at  all 
times." 

The  "  witness  "  referred  to  is  revelation  from  the 
divine  or  spiritual.  Intelligent  souls,  seeking  minds, 
can  learn  no  greater  lesson  than  from  these  posthu- 
mously published  and  fragmentary  papers  of  Romanes, 
edited  by  Gore,  and  published  under  the  title 
"Thoughts  on  Religion." 

What  a  picture  Romanes,  who  had  been  through 
it  all,  paints  of  the  soul-starving  misery  of  a  material- 
istic philosophy,  one  not  merely  without  spirit,  but 
without  indisputable  communication  between  the 
spiritual  and  ourselves.  Constituted  as  we  are,  I 
would  be  willing  to  stake  the  whole  validity  of  spiritual- 
ism on  this  eternal  sense  of  starvation  alone  ;  it  is  not 
only  totally  inexplicable  without  spiritualism,  but  it 
contains  the  direct  proof  within  itself,  and  requiring 
no  other  evidence,  under  two  of  the  three  criteria 


THE    NEW  PSYCHOLOGY  185 

of  direct  truth  formulated  by  President  McCosh,  to 
which  I  shall  later  refer.     Says  Wordsworth  : 

"  Trailing  clouds  of  glory  do  we  come 
From  God,  who  is  our  home." 

People  who  have  never  had  a  home,  never  known 
parents,  absent  friends,  or  protectors,  can  never 
know  what  it  is  to  be  homesick.  Homesickness  is  a 
direct  proof  of  a  home.  Speaking  of  the  misery  of 
those  who  deny  or  heed  not  the  "  internal  intuition 
of  divine  origin,"  as  Romanes  calls  it,  this  great 
original  investigator  and  scientific  writer  continues  : 

"  Some  men  are  not  conscious  of  the  cause  of  this 
misery  ;  this,  however,  does  not  prevent  the  fact  of 
their  being  miserable.  For  the  most  part  they  conceal 
the  fact  as  well  as  possible  from  themselves,  by  occupy- 
ing their  minds  with  society,  sport,  frivolity  of  all 
kinds,  or,  if  intellectually  disposed,  with  science,  art, 
literature,  business,  etc.  This,  however,  is  but  to  fill 
the  starving  belly  with  husks.  I  know  from  experi- 
ence the  intellectual  distractions  of  scientific  research, 
philosophical  speculation,  and  artistic  pleasures ; 
but  am  also  well  aware  that  when  all  these  are  taken 
together  and  well  sweetened  to  taste,  in  respect  of 
consequent  reputation,  means,  social  position,  etc., 
the  whole  concoction  is  but  as  high  confectionery  to 
a  starving  man.  He  may  cheat  himself  for  a  time 
— especially  if  he  be  a  strong  man — into  the  belief 
that  he  is  nourishing  himself  by  denying  his  natural 
appetite  but  soon  finds  he  was  made  for  some  al- 
together different  kind  of  food,  even  though  of  much 
less  tastefulness  as  far  as  the  palate  is  concerned. 

"  Some  men  never  even  acknowledge  this  articu- 
lately or  distinctly  to  themselves,  yet  always  show 
it  plainly  enough  to  others.  .  .  .  It  has  been  my  lot  to 
know  not  a  few  of  the  famous  men  of  our  generation, 
and  I  have  always  observed  that  this  is  profoundly 
true.  Like  all  other  '  moral '  satisfactions,  this  soon 
palls  by  custom,  and  as  soon  as  one  end  of  distinction 
is  reached,  another  is  pined  for.  There  is  no  finality 
to  rest  in,  while  disease  and  death  are  always  standing 


186  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

in  the  background.  Custom  may  even  blind  men  to 
their  own  misery,  so  far  as  not  to  make  them  realise 
what  is  wanting  ;  yet  the  want  is  there. 

"  I  take  it  then  as  unquestionably  true  that  this 
whole  negative  side  of  the  subject  proves  a  vacuum 
in  the  soul  of  man  which  nothing  can  fill  save  faith 
in  God." 

We  have  here  the  testimony  of  a  great  student, 
a  great  leader,  a  great  teacher,  an  expert,  who  has 
himself  gone  through  all  these  experiences,  and  whose 
life  has  been  largely  cast  among  the  living  exemplars 
of  the  great  truth  that  men  may  have  everything  to 
make  them  happy,  everything  to  gratify  their  desires, 
everything  to  satisfy  their  wants,  everything  to  oc- 
cupy their  minds,  wealth,  fame,  reputation,  pleasure, 
travel,  work  or  idleness  as  they  prefer,  intellectual 
pursuits,  scientific  recreations,  material  advantages, 
everything — ay,  everything  but  one,  and  that  one  is 
faith  in  God,  which  is  spiritualism,  and  without  that 
all  they  have  palls  by  custom,  is  but  as  high  con- 
fectionery to  a  starving  man,  things  to  cheat  them- 
selves with,  and  with  it  all,  with  all  that  this  world 
can  give,  they  but  feed  their  starving  bellies  with 
husks — they  are  filled  with  misery,  and  miserable 
even  though  blind  to  the  cause  of  their  ever-present 
and  obvious  misery. 

On  the  other  hand  are  those  who  have  nothing, 
who  have  poverty,  privation,  lack  of  friends,  lack  of 
help,  lack  of  opportunity,  lack  of  everything  but  one, 
and  that  the  spiritualistic  faith  in  God,  and  yet  for 
whom,  in  this  world,  this  spiritualism  has  no  earthly 
or  physical  reward,  amid  this  tangle  of  ever-present 
selfishness,  but  who  yet  grasp  with  a  wild  joy,  and 
hold  fast  in  a  death-grapple,  to  that  sole  thing  which 
makes  life  worth  having,  and  makes  our  lives  worth 
living.  It  will  not  be  always  so,  it  is  growing  better 
day  by  day,  and  when  the  whole  world  has  seen  and 
knows — then  the  great  earthly  reward  will  come  for 
all,  as  well  for  those  who  now  feed  on  husks  in  misery 
as  for  those  who  feed  on  the  great  provender  of  the 
spirit.  But  even  to-day  this  is  the  promised  reward  ; 
hark  to  the  message  ;  it  is  a  Christian  hymn,  but,  far 


THE    NEW   PSYCHOLOGY  187 

more,  it  is  a  universal,  spiritual  hymn,  the  hymn  of 
self-sacrifice  : 

"  '  Is  there  diadem,  as  monarch, 
That  His  brow  adorns  ? ' 
'  Yea,  a  crown  in  very  surety, 
But  of  thorns.' 

" '  If  I  find  him,  if  I  follow, 

What  his  guerdon  here  ? ' 
'  Many  a  sorrow,  many  a  labour, 
Many  a  tear.' 

"  '  If  I  ask  him  to  receive  me, 
Will  he  say  me  nay  ?  ' 
'  Not  till  earth,  and  not  till  heaven 
Pass  away.' " 

Think  of  Thermopylae  !  and  then  think  of  a 
successful  speculation  in  stocks  !  "  Many  a  labour, 
many  a  tear  !  "  Ay,  many,  till  the  round  world,  and 
all  that  therein  is,  has  learned  its  higher  life ;  and 
this  lesson  spiritualism  alone  can  teach  and  bring 
home  to  every  wandering  soul. 

"  Do  right  to  the  widow,  judge  for  the  fatherless, 
give  to  the  poor,  defend  the  orphan,  clothe  the  naked, 
heal  the  broken  and  weak,  laugh  not  a  lame  man  to 
scorn,  defend  the  maimed,  and  let  the  blind  man  come 
into  the  sight  of  thy  clearness.  Keep  safe  the  old 
and  young  within  thy  walls.  Whenever  thou  findest 
the  dead,  take  and  bury  them." 

That  is  the  teaching  of  spiritualism  ;  for  "  God  is 
a  spirit." 

Mr  S.  R.  Crockett,  in  his  "  Adventurer  in  Spain," 
apostrophises  a  donkey  who  has  broken  his  tether. 
"  He  had  found  a  good  bank  of  grass,  fenced  about 
with  succulent  reed,  enduring  bed-straw,  and  spiced 
with  the  thistle  of  his  ancestors.  He  had  all  at  com- 
mand. His  sides  were  plump  with  the  fulness  of 
them.  The  clear  water  of  a  canal  was  on  the  other 
side  of  the  way  to  drink  from  when  he  was  athirst. 
Cudgel  had  thwacked  his  sides,  and  would  do  so 
again.  But  he  had  forgotten  the  past,  and  never 
learned  to  forecast  the  future,  wherein  he  was  a 
better  philosopher.  His  mind  to  him  a  kingdom  was 
— the  realm  of  the  present.  It  was  shut  in  by  twitch 


188  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

grass,  barriered  by  ground  ivy,  and  down  the  long 
vista  which  is  futurity  he  would  see  only  infinite 
thistle  and  infinite  wild  teasle.  Death — he  had 
never  even  heard  of  that.  He  had,  indeed,  seen 
things  that  lay  still — things  that  the  futile  two- 
legged  put  into  deep  holes.  But  these  were  only 
asleep,  and  too  wise  to  waken.  Besides,  the  like 
would  never  happen  to  him.  He  had  to  be  roused 
up  that  his  panniers  might  be  placed  astride  his  back, 
and  sometimes  his  master  would  mount  up  behind — 
but  why  think  of  such  things  ?  Had  he  yet  eaten  all 
the  thistles  ?  No  ?  Worlds  and  worlds  of  thistles 
without  end  !  Amen  !  " 

How  like  Romanes'  description  of  this  ilk  among 
the  two-legged ! 

Contrast  with  this  the  beautiful  picture  of  the 
aspiring  religious  soul,  from  the  "  Memories,"  of  Max 
Miiller,  whose  entire  competency,  as  a  student  of  all 
religions,  no  one  will  question  : 

"  Here,  where  the  waterfall  has  clothed  the  grey 
rocks  on  either  side  with  green  moss,  the  eye  suddenly 
recognises  a  blue  forget-me-not  in  the  cool  shade. 
It  is  one  of  the  millions  of  sisters  now  blossoming 
along  all  the  rivulets  and  in  all  the  meadows  of  earth, 
and  which  have  blossomed  ever  since  the  first  morn- 
ing of  creation  shed  its  entire  inexhaustible  wealth  over 
the  world.  Every  vein  in  its  leaves,  every  stamen  in 
its  cup,  every  fibre  of  its  roots,  is  numbered,  and  no 
power  on  earth  can  make  the  number  more  or  less. 
Still  more,  when  we  strain  our  weak  eyes  and,  with 
superhuman  power,  cast  a  more  searching  glance  into 
the  secrets  of  nature,  when  the  microscope  discloses 
to  us  the  silent  laboratory  of  the  seed,  the  bud  and 
the  blossom,  do  we  recognise  the  ever-recurring  form 
in  the  most  minute  tissues  and  cells,  and  the  eternal 
unchangeableness  of  Nature's  plans  in  the  most  deli- 
cate fibre.  Could  we  pierce  still  deeper,  the  same 
form-world  would  reveal  itself,  and  the  vision  would 
lose  itself  as  in  a  hall  hung  with  mirrors.  Such  an 
infinity  as  this  lies  hidden  in  this  little  flower.  If  we 
look  up  to  the  sky,  we  see  again  the  same  system — 
the  moons  revolving  around  the  planets,  the  planets 


THE    NEW  PSYCHOLOGY  189 

around  suns,  and  the  suns  around  new  suns,  while  to 
the  straining  eye  the  distant  star-nebulae  themselves 
seem  to  be  a  new  and  beautiful  world.  Reflect  then 
how  these  majestic  constellations  periodically  revolve, 
that  the  seasons  may  change,  that  the  seed  of  this 
forget-me-not  may  shed  itself  again  and  again,  the 
cells  open,  the  leaves  shoot  out,  and  the  blossoms 
decorate  the  carpet  of  the  meadow  ;  and  look  upon 
the  lady-bug  which  rocks  itself  in  the  blue  cup  of  the 
flower,  and  whose  awakening  into  life,  whose  conscious- 
ness of  existence,  whose  living  breath,  are  a  thousand- 
fold more  wonderful  than  the  tissue  of  the  flower,  or 
the  dead  mechanism  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  Con- 
sider that  thou  also  belongest  to  this  infinite  warp  and 
woof,  and  that  thou  art  permitted  to  comfort  thyself 
with  the  infinite  creatures  which  revolve  and  live  and 
disappear  with  thee.  But  if  this  All,  with  its  smallest 
and  its  greatest,  with  its  wisdom  and  its  power,  with 
the  wonders  of  its  existence,  and  the  existence  of  its 
wonders,  is  the  work  of  a  Being  in  whose  presence  thy 
soul  does  not  shrink  back,  before  whom  thou  fallest 
prostrate  in  a  feeling  of  weakness  and  nothingness,  and 
to  whom  thou  risest  again  in  the  feeling  of  His  love 
and  mercy — if  thou  really  feelest  that  something 
dwells  in  thee  more  endless  and  eternal  than  the  cells 
of  the  flowers,  the  spheres  of  the  planets,  and  the 
life  of  the  insect — if  thou  recognisest  in  thyself  as  in  a 
shadow  the  reflection  of  the  Eternal  which  illuminates 
thee — if  thou  feelest  in  thyself,  and  under  and  above 
thyself,  the  omnipresence  of  the  Real,  in  which  thy 
seeming  becomes  being,  thy  trouble  rest,  thy  solitude 
universality — then  thou  knowest  the  One  to  whom 
thou  criest  in  the  dark  night  of  life  :  '  Creator  and 
Father,  Thy  will  be  done  in  heaven  as  upon  earth, 
so  also  in  me.'  Then  it  grows  bright  in  and  about 
thee.  The  daybreak  disappears  with  its  cold  mists, 
and  a  new  warmth  streams  through  shivering  nature. 
Thou  hast  found  a  hand  which  never  again  leaves 
thee,  which  holds  thee.  when  the  mountains  tremble 
and  moons  are  extinguished.  Wherever  thou  mayst 
be,  thou  art  with  Him,  and  He  with  thee.  He  is  the 
eternally  near,  and  His  is  the  world  with  its  flowers 


SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

and  thorns,  His  is  man  with  his  joys  and  sorrows. 
'  The  least  important  thing  does  not  happen  except 
as  God  wills  it !  ' 

This,  of  course,  is  the  "  grand  sweet  song  "  of  the 
eternal  spiritualism  of  the  universe.  We  hear  it  in 
darkness  and  sorrow,  we  lift  our  eyes  to  it  in  the 
glorious  heavens  ;  it  surrounds  and  leads  and  follows 
us,  and  death  is  but  a  transition  from  place  to  place, 
and  not  from  something  to  nothingness. 

"  The  bright  celestial  wheels, 

God's  glorious  starry  wheels, 

Before  their  awful  majesty  the  staggered  vision  reels  ; 
'Twixt  sun  and  outer  planet 
A  billion  leagues  to  span  it, 

Ten  thousand  times  that  vast  expanse  to  reach  the  first  fixed  star  ; 
And  evermore,  as  space  recedes,  new  countless  millons  are, 
Star  clusters  jewel-dyed,  which  flush  and  pale, 
Sun-couples,  slowly  wheeling, 
Vast  nebulae,  revealing 

New  sun  and  world  births  in  their  eddying  trail, 
And  man  dare  lift  his  comrade  eyes  with  God,  and  pierce  the  veil. 

"  The  slow  sepulchral  wheels, 
The  hearse's  solemn  wheels, 

That  bear  the  sacred  form  whose  lips  eternal  silence  seals  ; 
The  cortege  slowly  creeping, 
The  mourners  softly  weeping, 

While  friends  recount,  with  measured  voice,  the  virtues  of  the  dead  ; 
The  dead  ?     Nay,  new  processions  now  are  passing  overhead, 
Not  to  leave  a  fellow-mortal  at  the  grave, 
But  to  welcome  the  supernal 
Home  again  to  life  eternal, 
To  lead  to  higher  realms  the  set-free  slave, 
Higher  far  than  e'er  the  most  aspiring  mortal  dared  to  crave." 


CHAPTER    XXV 

SECTARIAN    THEOLOGY   IN   THE    LIGHT   OF    UNIVERSAL 

RELIGION 

WHAT  a  sharp  comedown  it  should  be  for  the 
evangelist  I  have  already  referred  to,  who  says  that 
the  idea  that  Christ  is  here  on  earth  with  us  is 
nonsense,  and  that  those  who  believe  such  nonsense 
are  encumberers  of  the  earth.  This  heathen  notion 
of  an  absentee  God,  as  I  have  already  explained, 
derived  from  a  careful  culling,  instead  of  a  broad 
knowledge,  of  scripture,  is  altogether  due  to  the 
sectarian  alliance  with  materialism,  which  Romanes 
characterised  as  a  fatal  mistake,  by  which  nature  is 
made  the  producer  and  sustainer,  and  God  is  relegated 
to  a  seat  somewhere  aloft,  a  proprietor,  as  one  may 
say,  who  takes  no  account  of  the  working  of  his  own 
establishment,  but  only  turns  up  at  pay  day,  while 
Satan,  the  locum  tenens,  is  always  at  hand  to  obstruct 
and  confound.  No  one  could  carry  on  a  successful 
business  in  that  way. 

It  is  not  the  evangelist  who  is  important  to  me, 
but  he  represents  a  type  of  that  form  of  Christianity 
which  has  made  religion  almost  impossible  among  its 
abject  disciples  as  a  vitalising  power  ;  and  which,  by 
its  example  to  the  public,  has  swept  countless 
millions  into  infidelity.  Primary  schools,  and  even 
schools  for  adults,  are  hard  to  keep  in  order  at  best 
— let  someone,  during  school  hours,  call  out  to  the 
pupils  that  the  teacher  has  gone  off  home,  and  then 
watch  for  the  ensuing  emeute. 

Here  is  a  local  newspaper  item  in  point  : 
"  Lights  went  out  for  half-an-hour  last  night  in 
the  University  dormitories,  due  to  a  broken  dynamo 
at  the  power-house.    There  was  a  general  rush  for 
191 


192  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

the  triangle,  and  an  ear-splitting  din  arose  from  tin- 
horns, pistols,  tin-pans  and  throats.  Fireworks  and 
red  fire  were  set  off.  In  half-an-hour  the  lights  were 
on  again  and  the  students  studying  harder  than  ever." 

But  this  latter  would  not  have  happened,  if  the 
lights  were  not  to  be  relit  until  the  Day  of  Judgment. 

To  this  absentee  sort  of  theology  I  much  prefer  the 
religion  of  the  little  girl  who,  returning  from  one 
uncle'  sfuner  al ,  and  with  sickness  prevalent  among 
many  of  her  relatives,  prayed  for  poor  dear  auntie, 
and  for  Cousin  Charlie^,  and  for  little  Cousin  Mamie, 
who  is  so  sick,  you  know,  and  for  mama  and  for  poor 
papa,  who  is  not  at  all  well,  and  then  concluded, 
"  And  do  you,  O  Lord,  take  right  good  care  of  yourself 
too,  for  if  anything  happens  to  you,  we  will  all  go  to 
pieces ." 

Or  that  of  another  little  girl  who,  trying  in  vain 
to  drive  her  dog  back,  at  last  indignantly  exclaimed 
to  him :  "  I  know  that  God  follows  me  around  every- 
where, and  watches  everything  I  do.  and  I'm  not  going 
to  have  you  trapesing  after  me  too." 

The  whole  difficulty  is  simply  arid  solely  due  to 
the  strange  fact  that,  with  the  bulk  of  the  people, 
with  all  of  such  people,  creation  is  looked  upon  as 
something  which  took  place  in  the  past,  and  that 
nature  is  something  acting  in  the  present  as  a  sub- 
stitute. It  is  this  theological  notion  that  has  re- 
legated God  and  Christ  to  a  distant  heaven,  where 
they  are  sitting  beside  each  other  to  the  sound  of 
music,  and  have  left  the  devil  to  look  after  the  souls, 
and  nature  to  look  after  the  bodies  ;  and  the  allied 
materialistic-science  notion  that,  since  souls  cannot 
be  physically  seen,  or  smelt,  or  tasted,  they  do  not 
exist.  Nature,  they  say,  performs  and  looks  after 
everything,  and  yet  nature  itself  is  concededly  so  blind 
that  it  can  itself  not  see,  nor  can  it  smell  or  taste, 
though  it  is  supposed  to  manufacture  seers,  and 
smellers  and  tasters.  Conceive  for  one  moment  that 
creation  has  never  ceased ;  that  it  is  always  going  on  ; 
and  always  will  be  going  on,  and  the  whole  difficulty 
vanishes.  God  is  in  heaven  ;  but  heaven  is  wherever 
God  is,  and,  if  God  is  omnipresent,  then  heaven  is  any- 


SECTARIAN  THEOLOGY  193 

where  and  everywhere.  As  Christ  said  :  The  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  within  yourselves  ;  and  the  human 
body  is  the  living  temple  of  God,  and  the  universe 
His  workshop.  We  are  in  this  vast  workshop,  where 
machinery  is  not  merely  being  used,  but  is  being  built, 
and  being  designed,  and  planned  and  carried  out, 
yesterday,  to-day  and  for  ever  ;  and  volitions  and 
intelligence  are  everywhere,  and  creative  power  and 
intellect  are  never  absent  for  an  instant. 

That  religion  is  too  deeply  embedded  in  the 
very  structure  of  mankind  to  permit  even  society 
to  continue  except  on  a  religious  basis  is  clearly 
pointed  out  by  Gustave  Le  Bon,  in  his  "  Psychology 
of  Peoples."  The  author  is  himself  intensely 
rationalistic,  in  the  larger  sense  of  the  term,  but  he 
is  compelled  to  say  :  "  Among  the  various  ideas  by 
which  the  peoples  have  been  guided,  the  ideas  which 
are  the  beacons  of  history,  the  poles  of  civilisation, 
religious  ideas  have  played  too  preponderating  and 
too  fundamental  a  part  for  us  not  to  devote  a  special 
chapter  to  them.  Religious  beliefs  have  always  con- 
stituted the  most  important  element  in  the  life  of 
peoples,  and,  in  consequence,  of  their  history.  The 
most  considerable  historical  events,  those  which  have 
had  the  most  colossal  influence,  have  been  the  birth 
and  death  of  gods.  With  a  new  religious  idea  a  new 
civilisation  is  born  into  the  world.  At  all  the  ages  of 
humanity,  in  ancient  times  as  in  modern  times,  the 
fundamental  questions  have  always  been  religious 
questions.  If  humanity  could  allow  its  gods  to  die 
it  might  be  said  of  such  an  event  that,  as  regards  its 
consequences,  it  would  be  the  most  important  event 
that  had  taken  place  on  the  surface  of  our  planet  since 
the  birth  of  the  first  civilisations." 

"  Moreover,  if  at  the  present  day  our  old  society 
totters  on  its  foundations,  and  finds  all  its  institutions 
profoundly  shaken,  the  reason  is  that  it  is  losing  more 
and  more  the  belief  son  which  it  had  existed  up  till  now. 
When  it  shall  have  lost  them  entirely,  a  new  civilisation, 
founded  on  a  new  faith,  will  necessarily  take  its  place. 
History  shows  us  that  peoples  do  not  long  survive 
the  disappearance  of  their  gods.  The  civilisations 

N 


194  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

that  are  born  with  them  also  die  with  them.  There 
is  nothing  so  destructive  as  the  dust  of  dead  gods." 

We  say  to  one  who  is  about  to  be  overwhelmed 
by  disaster,  who  suffers  beneath  the  slings  and  arrows 
of  outrageous  fortune,  who  is  about  to  face  the 
unknown  wonders  of  death,  and  what  lies  beyond, 
"  Be  a  man  !  "  If  Le  Bon  is  right,  and  he  is  right, 
this  is  the  same  as  to  say,  "  Be  a  religious  man,"  for 
that  is  conceded  to  be  the  only  manhood  which  counts 
or  which  can  count  in  our  present  world,  with  our 
present  civilisation,  our  present  knowledge  and  our 
faith  and  hope  and  charity.  With  these  we  are  triply 
armed  ;  without  these  we  are  poor,  miserable  and 
defenceless  indeed. 

But  Le  Bon  is  wrong  in  believing  that  men  create 
their  own  gods,  in  the  sense  that  they  consciously 
make  images  representing  nothing,  if  that  is  what  he 
means  by  the  phrase,  and  then  convert  them  into 
gods,  and  worship  them.  They  may  make  images  of 
their  gods,  that  is,  embody  in  representative  form  the 
intuitional  and  disembodied  gods  which  are  implanted 
in  their  souls.  Anything  else  than  this  is  nonsense. 
If  positivism  erred  so  far,  in  making  humanity  in 
mass  a  deity,  and  the  result  was  so  preposterous  that 
Huxley  could  only  say  of  it  that  he  would  as  soon 
think  of  worshipping  a  wilderness  of  apes,  how  much 
more  preposterous  to  imagine  that  men  deliberately 
set  themselves  to  work  to  manufacture  gods,  not  to 
represent,  nor  to  embody,  the  conception  of,  nor  to 
present  to  conscious  sight  pre-existing  gods,  but  to 
actually  manufacture  them  de  novo,  in  cold  blood, 
out  of  stone,  mud  or  stick,  and  then  crouch  down  and 
worship  them. 

The  artist  must  have  the  model  in  his  soul  far 
more  vividly  than  that  which  he  afterwards  repro- 
duces in  colour,  or  bronze,  or  marble  ;  the  architect 
must  see  his  completed  structure  before  he  puts  pencil 
to  paper  ;  the  bridge-builder  must  see  his  bridge  in 
all  its  form  and  material  before  he  puts  it  into  shape ; 
and  the  inventor  must  have  his  invention  ready  for 
use  before  his  reduces  it  to  practice. 

Men  could  never  endow  their  gods  with  super- 


SECTARIAN  THEOLOGY  195 

natural  powers,  unless  they  had  cognisance,  before 
they  made  them,  of  supernatural  powers  ;  and  if  they 
had  this  knowledge  beforehand,  then  the  supernatural 
powers  were  the  gods,  not  manufactured  by  them,  and 
what  they  did  was  simply  to  give  them  tangible  re- 
presentation. 

In  the  illustrations  contained  in  surviving  Maya 
manuscripts  and  codices  of  Yucatan,  Borgian, 
Dresden,  Troano,  etc.,  written  by  the  Maya  priest- 
hood long  before  the  Spanish  conquest,  the  whole 
process  of  manufacturing  their  idols  is  depicted.  And 
the  Mayas  were  among  the  most  religious  peoples  of 
antiquity. 

Here  we  see  one  man  chopping  out  the  figure  of  the 
face  with  a  hatchet,  another  boring  out  the  eyes, 
another  chiselling  the  nose  into  shape,  another  paint- 
ing the  figure ;  and  Dr  Cyrus  Thomas,  in  his  study  of 
the  manuscript  Troano  (U.S.  Government  Contribu- 
tions to  North  American  Ethnology,  1882),  says : 
"  The  idols,  while  in  the  process  of  manufacture,  are 
usually  represented  by  the  heads  only  ;  those  yet  not 
painted  or  ornamented,  without  any  other  lines  than 
those  necessary  to  show  the  parts  or  organs,  as  in 
Fig.  33,  which  shows  also  the  method  of  Carving 
(see  Plate  XV.*) ;  those  which  are  painted  or  orna- 
mented (Fig.  34).  One  of  the  instruments  used  by 
them  in  carving  their  wooden  images,  I  judge  from 
its  form,  as  shown  in  Fig.  35,  was  metallic." 

Imagine,  if  you  can,  a  tombstone-maker  carving 
a  slab,  "  sacred  to  the  memory,"  etc.,  in  which  the 
object  to  which  the  memory  was  sacred  was  to  be  the 
tombstone  itself !  That  would  not  be  ignorance  or 
insanity,  it  would  be  idiocy. 

Captain  Dennett,  R.N.,  in  his  narrative  of  Parry's 
second  voyage  to  the  Arctic  regions,  inserts  about  a 
hundred  pages  relating  to  the  psychic  life  of  the 
Eskimos,  from  the  records  of  the  first  Christian 
missionaries  who  visited  these  natives,  and  which 
description  is  of  extreme  interest.  I  will  make  a  few 
very  brief  extracts : 

"  Before  any  missionaries  arrived  in  the  country > 
Greenlanders  were  supposed  to  be  gross  idolaters, 


196  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

who  prayed  to  the  sun  and  sacrificed  to  the  devil, 
that  he  might  be  propitious  to  them  in  their  fishery. 
Mariners  were  led  to  these  conclusions  from  the 
discourse  of  the  natives,  which  they  could  not 
understand,  and  from  a  variety  of  circumstances." 

"  But  after  obtaining  a  more  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  their  language,  the  missionaries  were  led 
to  entertain  a  contrary  opinion,  from  their  various 
notions  concerning  the  soul  and  spirits  in  general, 
and  from  their  evident  anxiety  about  their  probable 
state  after  death.  From  free  conversations"  with  the 
natives  in  their  perfectly  wild  state,  in  which,  how- 
ever, care  must  be  taken  to  make  no  personal  applica- 
tions, and  not  to  insist  upon  any  duties  to  which  they 
are  disinclined,  it  is  very  apparent  that  their  fore- 
fathers believed  in  a  Being  who  resides  above  the 
clouds,  and  to  whom  they  paid  religious  worship." 

"  A  company  of  baptised  Greenlanders  one  day 
expressed  their  astonishment,  that  they  had  spent 
their  lives  in  a  state  of  such  complete  ignorance  and 
thoughtlessness.  One  of  the  party  immediately  rose 
up  and  spoke  as  follows  :  *  It  is  true,  we  were 
ignorant  heathens,  and  knew  nothing  of  God  and  of  a 
Redeemer  ;  for  who  could  have  informed  us  of  their 
existence,  before  you '  (addressing  the  missionaries) 
1  arrived.  Yet  I  have  often  thought,  a  Kayak  with 
the  darts  belonging  to  it  does  not  exist  of  itself,  but 
must  be  made  with  the  trouble  and  skill  of  men's 
hands  ;  and  he  who  does  not  know  the  use  of  it 
easily  spoils  it.  Now  the  least  bird  is  composed  with 
greater  art  than  the  best  Kayak,  and  no  man  can 
make  a  bird.  Man  is  still  more  exquisitely  framed 
than  all  other  animals.  Who  then  has  made  him  ? 
He  comes  from  his  parents,  and  they  come  again 
from  their  parents.  But  whence  came  the  first  man  ? 
He  may  have  grown  out  of  the  earth.  But  why  do 
men  not  grow  out  of  the  earth  nowadays  ?  And  from 
whence  do  the  earth,  sea,  sun,  moon  and  stars  pro- 
ceed ?  There  must  necessarily  be  someone  who  has 
created  everything,  who  has  always  existed  and  can 
have  no  end  :  he  must  be  inconceivably  more  power- 
ful and  skilful  than  the  wisest  of  men  :  he  must  also 


SECTARIAN  THEOLOGY  197 

be  very  good,  because  everything  that  he  has  made 
is  so  useful  and  necessary  for  us.  Did  I  but  know 
him,  what  love  and  respect  should  I  feel  for  him  ? 
But  who  has  seen  or  conversed  with  him  ?  None  of 
us  men.  Yet  there  may  be  men  too,  who  know 
something  about  him !  With  such  I  would  willingly 
converse.  As  soon  therefore  as  I  heard  from  you  of 
this  great  Being,  I  believed  you  immediately  and 
willingly,  having  for  a  length  of  time  longed  after 
such  information.'  This  declaration  was  confirmed 
by  the  statements  of  the  others  with  more  or  fewer 
circumstances.  One  of  the  company  made  this 
additional  remark  :  '  A  man  is  formed  differently 
from  all  other  animals.  These  serve  each  other  for 
food, and  all  are  for  the  use  of  man, and  have  no  under- 
standing, but  we  have  an  intelligent  soul,  are  subject 
to  no  one  in  the  world,  and  yet  are  anxious  about 
futurity.  Of  whom  can  we  be  afraid  ?  Surely  it 
must  be  of  some  mighty  spirit  who  rules  over  us.  Oh, 
that  we  but  knew  him  !  that  we  had  him  for  our 
friend !  ' 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  argument  is  precisely  that 
of  Newton,  Lamarck,  Sir  John  Herschel  and  Romanes, 
whom  I  have  already  quoted.  It  entirely  contradicts 
the  views  of  Le  Bon,  that,  "  Doubtless  it  is  man  who 
created  the  gods,  but  after  having  created  them  he 
promptly  became  their  slave.  They  are  not  the  off- 
spring of  fear,  as  Lucretius  affirms,  but  of  hope,  and 
for  this  reason  their  influence  will  be  eternal." 

I  would  like  to  add  that  while  Le  Bon's  notion  is 
altogether  untenable,  yet  it  is  not  in  itself  a  dangerous 
one,  for  I  have  shown  in  my  chapter  on  Invention, 
which  is  an  act  of  creation  also,  that  the  invention 
itself,  to  be  both  "new  and  useful,"  must  come  not 
from  one's  own  conscious  creation  out  of  nothing,  but 
practically  by  revelation  through  the  subconscious  ; 
so  that  Le  Bon's  contention  might  be  apparently 
valid,  while  actually  false  ;  it  is  the  study  of  the  sub- 
conscious department  of  the  mind  which  is  reconciling 
the  apparent  contradictions.  My  purpose  in  quoting 
the  Eskimo,  among  the  poorest  and  least  advanced 
of  the  American  natives,  is  to  show  that  if  what  Le 


198  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

Bon  asserts  of  primitive  man  is  true,  then  it  is  equally 
true  of  our  latest  scientific  demonstrations. 

To  contraindicate  the  idea  that  these  Eskimo 
beliefs  and  demonstrations  might  have  been  a  resi- 
duum from  European  or  Asiatic  sources,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  study  their  cults,  even  in  the  few  pages 
of  Dennett,  to  perceive  that  while  they  harmonise, 
generally  speaking,  with  prehistoric  American  cults 
and  practices,  they  are  entirely  at  variance  with  the 
corresponding  ideas  of  the  Eastern  world — that  is 
to  say,  if  these  beliefs  came  from  the  Eastern  world 
to  the  Eskimos,  then  they  came  to  all  prehistoric 
America  from  the  same  source.  We  know  now,  as 
ethnologists  have  demonstrated  (see  Brinton  and 
others),  that  the  exact  reverse  is  the  case  ;  that  if 
there  was  priority,  it  was  for  America  ;  that  such 
implanting  must  have  gone  back  to  interglacial  times 
at  least,  for  human  remains  and  productions  have  been 
discovered  in  various  places  in  America  dating  back 
to  that  remote  epoch,  notably  near  Trenton,  N.J., 
where  they  had  been  found  in  abundance,  deep  down 
in  the  glacial  drift,  which  came  down  with  the  ice- 
cap from  the  north .  That  this  eastern  priority  did  not 
exist  is  also  shown  by  the  conceded  fact  that  all 
American  languages  have  a  polysynthetic  type  of 
their  own,  while  the  languages  of  the  Eastern  world 
are  not  polysynthetic  at  all;  America  developed 
and  grew  independently  ot  Asia,  Africa. 
Polynesia. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

SPIRITUALISM  THE  SUBSTRATUM  OF  RELIGION,  BUT  NOT 
IDENTICAL  WITH  IT 

IN  the  previous  chapters  I  have  endeavoured  to  show 
that  the  phenomena  of  spiritualism  are  in  a  large 
degree  identical  with  those  of  religion  ;  and  that 
the  sources  and  lines  of  communication  in  the  case 
of  spiritualism  are  to  a  great  extent  identical  with 
those  of  religion  ;  not  only  of  one  religion,  but  of  all. 
Is  spiritualism  then  identical  with  religion  ?  By  no 
means.  Many  leaders  and  teachers  in  spiritualism 
have  somewhat  loosely  but  erroneously  held  this 
opinion,  to  the  great  detriment  both  of  itself  and  of 
religion  ;  and  whole  bodies  of  Jews  and  Christians, 
and  of  other  religions,  have  started  back  from  this 
apparent  danger  so  violently  as  to  blindly  fling 
themselves  into  materialism,  or  rationalism  as  it  is 
euphemistically  called,  to  escape  this  apparently 
obvious  peril. 

Because  one  sort  of  commerce  is  carried  over  a 
railway,  does  that  bind  all  transport  over  the  same 
line  to  that  class  ?  Because  one  great  writer  has 
written  books  of  inestimable  value  on  religion,  does 
that  make  his  books  on  history,  or  his  novels,  equally 
books  on  religion  ?  Because  Christ  spoke  parables, 
are  all  His  records  and  miracles  to  be  considered 
parables  ? 

Because  spiritualism  and  religion  always,  one  may 
say,  overlap  each  other,  does  that  imply  any  identity  ? 
So  physiology,  anatomy  and  pathology  overlap  each 
other  ;  so  the  history  of  the  Jews  and  the  religion 
of  the  Jews  overlap  each  other  ;  so  astronomy  and 
chemistry,  geology  and  paleontology,  life  and  death, 
spirit  and  matter,  overlap  each  other,  nay  more,  they 
199 


200  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

measure  each  other,  but  does  that  imply  that  they 
are  identical  ? 

What  then  is  the  binding  force  which  holds  re- 
ligion and  spiritualism  together  ?  It  is  the  common 
union  of  the  seen  and  the  unseen.  It  is  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  union  with  Stewart  and  Tait's  "  Unseen 
Universe."  It  is  what  Romanes  described  as  the 
Spirit  of  the  Universe,  and  Lamarck  as  that  spirit, 
independent  of  matter,  which  forms  and  rules  all 
things  ;  and  Sir  John  Herschel  as  volition  manifest- 
ing upon  the  material,  and  Lord  Kelvin  as  the  per- 
petual miracle  of  life. 

Spiritualism  comes  from  the  beyond,  through  the 
subconscious  department  of  the  mind,  and  so  does 
religion.  The  revelations  are  from  the  beyond  ;  in 
one  case  from  departed  spirits  possibly ;  from  the 
spirit  of  the  universe  possibly  ;  from  telepathy  often 
doubtless ;  from  some  outside  and  undetermined 
intelligence  almost  certainly  in  many  cases  ;  and  it 
comes  with  power  to  act  on  the  mental  and  spiritual 
within  us,  and  upon  our  own  physical  and  the 
physical  around  us. 

So  does  religion ;  but  religion,  while  it  comes  in 
the  same  garb,  and  from  an  outside  source,  comes  also 
from  a  divine  source ;  that  is  the  radical  difference, 
yet  not  always  a  difference.  Still,  religion  tells  its 
own  story  ;  but  as  spiritualism  fulfils  its  appointed 
lot  in  teaching  us  to  know  by  demonstration,  and  not 
accept  by  a  hazy  and  blind  faith,  that  we  live  on  after 
death,  so,  as  it  were,  it  comes  to  prepare  the  way  for 
religion,  to  make  its  paths  straight ;  it  does  this  often 
in  uncouth  and  unsanctified  ways,  and  is  strong  only 
in  the  earnestness  of  purpose  which,  through  every 
difficulty,  will  iterate  and  reiterate  the  grand  con- 
trolling teaching  :  "  It  is  I  "  ;  "  I  am  alive  "  ; 
"  There  is  no  spiritual  death  "  ;  "I  am  alive,  intelli- 
gent, awake,  broad-minded,  and  (in  most  cases), 
happy."  Now  then,  with  this  in  hand,  if  it  is  de- 
monstrated (and  it  certainly  has  been)  religion  gets 
its  solid  foothold  and  base,  and,  as  Huxley  said, 
ridiculing  the  "  religion  of  humanity,"  we  are  no  longer 
listening,  in  this  religion,  to  "  a  wilderness  of  apes." 


SPIRITUALISM    AND    RELIGION       201 

Under  the  foundation  of  religion  lies  this  basic 
proof  of  a  future  life — without  that,  all  religion  is  an 
ignis  fatuus  •  spiritualism,  rough  and  often  mean  ; 
little  and  babbling  ;  cheap  and  chattering  ;  with  its 
fishwives,  curates,  soldiers,  cowboys,  InoUan  girls, 
so  near  to  the  heart  of  nature  ;  with  its  sailors  who 
often  swear  ;  merry  spooks  like  German  kobolds  ; 
poltergeists ;  friends,  relatives,  sisters,  brothers, 
wives,  father  and  mother,  baby,  children,  even  still- 
born babes,  grown-up  sons  and  daughters,  partners 
in  business,  men  we  have  known  and  admired,  sweet- 
hearts, lovers,  the  kind  and  unkind,  truthtellers  and 
liars,  "  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  "  decarnated, 
come  and  tell  us  the  truth,  or  else  play  with  us,  or 
cheat  us,  or  fancy  for  us,  and,  even  so,  prove  the  truth, 
and  they  do  all  those  multitudinous  things  in  all 
those  multitudinous  ways  which,  from  our  knowledge 
of  them,  we  should  expect,  if  real,  and  the  absence 
of  which  would  make  them  to  us  unknown  and 
negligible  quantities. 

Christ  said  of  little  children,  "  Suffer  them  to  come 
unto  me,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  So 
we  may  learn  wisdom  from  babes. 

Perfection  does  not  belong  to  us  here  or  hereafter, 
but  progression  does.  For  example,  there  is  not  a 
sane  man  living  who  believes  that  by  any  amount  of 
acquirable  knowledge  he  can  ever  become  omniscient, 
nor,  by  any  amount  of  acquirable  power,  omnipotent, 
nor,  by  any  increase  of  goodness,  perfect ;  and  hence, 
since  we  know  by  the  mere  contemplation  of  the 
universe  that  there  is  something  perfect  in  its  in- 
telligence, power,  universality,  vision  and  foresight, 
we  can  all  of  us  know  that  we  may  be  shavings  from 
that  great  spiritual  sphere,  but  that  we  can  never  have 
the  rotundity,  power,  majesty  and  perfection  of  that 
sphere.  It  isn't  right,  it  isn't  reasonable,  that  we 
should. 

We  can  be  just  as  good,  and  wise,  and  great,  and 
useful,  as  we  can  be,  and  that  is  precisely  what  we 
ought  to  try  to  be  ;  we  know  not  what  successive 
spheres  of  light  we  may  traverse  through  eternity, 
nor  even  if  actual  eternity  is  for  us  ;  but  the  war  is 


202  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

won  if  we  win  survival  after  death,  and  all  the  rest  we 
can  trust  implicitly  to  the  power  which  made  us  and 
preserved  us. 

And  just  as  we  the  little,  are,  in  type,  comrades 
of  God  the  universal,  so  is  spiritualism  the  little, 
comrade  to  religion  the  universal. 

And  with  this,  the  soul  misery,  the  starved-on- 
husks,  the  cheated-with-vanities,  of  Romanes,  will 
pass  away  like  a  tale  that  is  told,  and  life  and  mind 
will  have  a  new  meaning,  and  a  new  destiny. 

If  it  should  turn  out,  if  it  has  turned  out,  that  the 
materialistic,  empirical,  atheistical  propaganda  of 
what  has  so  often  gone  under  the  name  of  science,  of 
physical  science,  is  all  a  mistake,  when  attempting  to 
cross  the  impassable  chasm,  the  unthinkable  chasm, 
which  lies  between  mind  and  matter,  between  spirit 
the  worker  and  the  material  universe,  the  worked  in 
and  on,  and  for  which  propaganda  physical  science 
must  transcend  our  physics,  which  is  all  it  has  or  can 
have,  then  we  can  see  the  terrific  result  of  such  a  mis- 
take upon  mankind,  past,  present  and  future. 

If  we  are  allied  to  spirit,  universal  and  eternal ; 
if  we  are  here  on  probation,  as  Romanes  says  ;  if  we 
are  to  stand  still,  advance  or  retrograde,  as  we  make 
use  of  the  opportunities  of  this  life  of  probation  ;  and, 
if  we  live  after  death,  and  there  must  make  a  fresh 
start  with  our  acquired  capital  here,  continue  on, 
willy-nilly,  and  continue  our  advance  there  as  we 
have  advanced  here ;  stand  still,  earthbound  there, 
as  we  have  stood  still,  earthbound  here  ;  or  retro- 
grade there,  or  endeavour  in  speechless  agony  to 
catch  up,  to  cling  to  something,  as  a  drowning  man 
catches  at  straws,  to  save  ourselves  there,  and  in 
pain,  sorrow,  remorse,  darkness  and  degradation  ; 
only  in  some  degree  and  at  some  time  helped,  as  may 
be,  by  the  purer  spirits  weeping  tears  of  sorrow  for 
our  misery,  and  whispering  words  of  hope  and  encour- 
agement amid  the  long  blackness  of  despair,  is  it  not 
then  a  frightful  mistake  ?  F  H 

It  is  indeed  a  frightful  mistake  ;  and  one  may  well 
ask,  how  could  such  a  mistake  have  occurred  ?  and 
how  could  so  many  millions  of  mankind  have  fallen 


SPIRITUALISM    AND    RELIGION       203 

into  this  error,  and  subjected  themselves  to  this 
delusion  ? 

The  path  of  duty  is  not  always  easy,  but  the  re- 
ward is  as  great  as  it  is  inevitable. 

"  Of  all  the  words  the  language  bears 

Of  splendour  or  of  beauty, 
Of  faith  to  God  or  truth  to  man, 

The  noblest  one  is  Duty. 
It  brings  a  zest  to  every  joy, 

A  balm  to  every  sorrow, 
It  lifts  the  weary  heart  to-day, 

And  nerves  it  for  to-morrow." 

But  men  are  prone  to  seek  the  reward  without  the 
toil ;  and  it  cannot  be  done.  Says  the  old  hymn  : 

"  Shall  I  be  carried  to  the  skies 

On  flow'ry  beds  of  ease, 
While  others  fought  to  win  the  prize 

And  sailed  through  bloody  seas  ?  n 

Men  were  very  ready,  nay,  anxious,  to  learn  of 
some  way  by  which  the  end  of  life  might  better  become 
the  end  of  all  things  for  themselves,  than  that  they 
should  have  to  bear  the  responsibility  of  a  fathomless, 
perchance  an  unhappy,  if  well-deserved,  future. 
When  men  are  drafted  out  from  the  ranks  for  execu- 
tion, it  is  better  to  draw  a  blank  than  a  number  ; 
though  they  well  know  that  it  would  have  been  better 
still  to  draw  a  promotion.  But  promotion  must  be 
worked  for  ;  desertion  comes  more  easy,  but  only  for 
the  moment. 

And  when  physical  science  appeared  before  them 
as  a  one-eyed  and  impassive  god,  who  spake  as  one 
with  authority,  and  promised  eternal  death  and 
silence,  they  turned  with  a  jest — "  Well,  we'll  be  a 
long  time  dead,"  and  thought  that  they  could  be 
happy  with  that,  but  Romanes  showed  that  they  were 
all  miserable  together,  whether  among  the  pursuits 
of  physics,  the  gathering  and  scattering  of  wealth, 
the  dissipations  of  frivolity  and  fashion,  and  indeed 
beneath  every  covering  sham,  which  they  flung  over 
their  poverty  and  nakedness.  I  think  he  was  right ; 
I  have  known  many  such  myself,  and  they  are  a 


204  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

dissatisfied  lot,  one  and  all,  each  seeking  to  diminish 
his  own  misery  by  a  propaganda  to  make  others  be- 
lieve the  same  thing,  and  "  come  into  the  crowd," 
which  is  ridiculous,  and  would  be,  even  if  they  were 
convinced  and  sincere. 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

POPULAR  ERROR  REGARDING  MODERN  WRITERS  WHO 
HAVE  BEEN  ASSUMED  TO  TEACH  EMPIRICISM — 
LOCKE,  HUME,  COMTE,  MILL 

IF  one  recites  a  few  names  only  of  those  who  have 
influenced  this  degeneracy  or  indolence  of  thought, 
he  will  find  that  after  Locke,  Hume,  Comte,  John 
Stuart  Mill,  Huxley,  Tyndall,  Herbert  Spencer  and 
Haeckel  have  been  named,  he  will  have  exhausted 
nearly  the  whole  catalogue  of  those  who  have,  in 
modern  times,  and  especially  for  Great  Britain  and 
America,  brought  about  the  propaganda  of  material- 
ism which  is  now  so  happily  passing  away. 

The  majority  of  these  men  were  not  men  of  science 
at  all.  But,  when  their  true  attitude  is  investigated, 
it  will  be  found  that  they  actually  disclaim  the  very 
views  attributed  to  them,  and  on  which  the  gospel  of 
nihilism  has  been  established. 

Locke,  perhaps,  stands  first ;  and  on  his  teachings 
are  founded  the  beliefs  that  the  animal  man,  having 
mere  irritability,  from  contact  with  a  disturbing 
factor,  as  a  worm  shrinks  when  touched,  writes  the 
sum  and  substance  of  all  his  knowledge  on  a  tabula 
rasa,  a  blank  page,  and  so  has  developed,  from  con- 
tacts with  his  environment,  also  physical,  the  man 
as  we  know  him,  from  the  clodhopper  up  to  Shake- 
speare. 

Yet  nothing  can  possibly  be  more  wide  of  the 
mark.  Locke  was  first,  last  and  all  the  time,  a 
devout  and  consistent  Christian  ;  and  it  is  only  by 
omitting  his  introduction,  and  his  definitions,  that 
any  such  travesty  of  his  views  could  have  acquired 
vogue. 

The  controversy,  in  fact,  was  against  the  then  pro- 
205 


206  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

pounded  theory  of  "  innate  principles,"  as  contrasted 
with  divinely  implanted  faculties. 

As,  for  example,  Locke  says :  "  God  having  fitted 
men  with  faculties  and  means  to  discover,  receive 
and  retain  truths,  according  as  they  are  employed." 

Again :  "  How  much  of  our  knowledge  depends 
upon  the  right  use  of  those  powers  nature  hath  be- 
stowed upon  us,  and  how  little  upon  such  innate 
principles,"  etc. 

So  of  revelation  :  "  Reason,"  he  says,  "  is  natural 
revelation,  whereby  the  eternal  Father  of  light,  and 
Fountain  of  all  knowledge,  communicates  to  mankind 
that  portion  of  truth  which  He  has  laid  within  the 
reach  of  their  natural  faculties  :  revelation  is  natural 
reason  enlarged  by  a  new  set  of  discoveries  com- 
municated by  God  immediately." 

Our  organs  themselves,  according  to  Locke,  are 
God-given.  "  We  cannot  believe  it  impossible,"  he 
says,  "  to  God  to  make  a  creature  with  other  organs, 
and  more  ways  to  convey  into  the  understanding  the 
notice  of  corporeal  things  than  these  five,  as. they 
are  usually  counted,  which  He  has  given  to  man, 
etc." 

Again :  "I  judge  it  not  amiss,  by  this  intimation  " 
(of  active  and  passive  power), ' ( to  direct  our  minds  to 
the  consideration  of  God  and  spirits,  for  the  clearest 
idea  of  active  powers." 

You  will  see  at  once,  from  these  brief  extracts,  that 
Locke  was  not  only  a  theist,  but  a  believer  in  and 
demonstrator  of  continuous  revelation,  and  of  God, 
and  spiritualism.  How  far  astray  then  must 
physical  science,  in  teaching  materialism,  have  gone, 
to  seek  to  impress  Locke  into  its  motley  ranks  ! 

Locke's  philosophy,  when  properly  understood, 
was  not  at  all  directed  against  spiritualism,  but  on  the 
contrary  was  directly  in  its  favour. 

What  he  attacked  so  relentlessly  was  the  Cartesian 
theory  of  innate  ideas,  which,  having  been  boldly 
stated  in  the  philosophy  of  Descartes,  was  afterwards 
taken  up  and  still  more  thoroughly  elaborated  by 
Leibnitz.  Both  these  men  were  among  the  greatest 
mathematicians  known  to  history,  and  there  is  no 


POPULAR    ERROR  207 

more  materialistic  science  than  that  of  pure 
mathematics. 

This  theory  of  innate  ideas  posited,  in  the  embryo 
organism  as  a  part  of  its  equipment,  certain  em- 
bryonic ideas  which,  later  on,  would  expand  and 
culminate  in  many  of  the  developed  forms  of  ideas  and 
beliefs.  It  had,  or  was  capable  of  having,  a  material- 
istic foundation,  and,  in  fact,  the  physical  theory  of 
heredity,  which  I  will  consider  later  on,  in  connection 
with  Haeckel,  is  practically  one  of  innate  ideas,  with 
a  basis  of  physical  ids  or  plasms,  inherent  in  the 
minutest  bit  of  invisible  living  protoplasm,  inherited 
for  millions  of  years,  perhaps,  through  unnumbered 
generations,  to  grow  and  mature  as  the  living  form 
grows  and  matures,  and  to  be  again  transmitted,  by  its 
living  particles,  to  the  minutest  bit  of  living  proto- 
plasm, in  the  offspring,  for  uncounted  generations  yet 
to  come. 

It  was  this  physical  theory  that  Locke  strove  to 
supplant  by  substituting  direct  spiritual  contact  and 
revelation,  with  and  from  God  and  spirits. 

Certain  sects  of  Christians,  and  still  larger  sects 
of  other  religions,  have  clung  to  this  theory  of  innate 
ideas,  which,  indeed,  came  down  from  heathen  times, 
but,  as  a  source  of  intuition  or  even  of  instinct,  the 
swing  of  the  pendulum  is  nowtoward  the  Kantian  view 
that  instinct,  like  this  other,  is  "  the  voice  of  God." 

That  man  brings  a  spiritual  endowment  is  most 
certain,  and  that  his  constitution  itself  is  permeated, 
inbred  or  surrounded,  with  a  subconsciousness  and  a 
receptivity  for  acquiring  spiritual  food,  is  unquestion- 
able— this  is  the  "  faculty  "  of  Locke,  or  as  Words- 
worth says : 

•'-  Trailing  clouds  of  glory  do  we  come 
From  God,  who  is  our  home." 

But  they  are  clouds  that  we  trail ;  they  are 
faculties,  capacities  and  habits,  and  forms  ;  each  is 
"  after  its  kind,"  but  these  are  not  "  innate  ideas," 
but  the  soil  in  which  subconsciously  acquired  ideas 
are  and  will  be  implanted,  as  a  complement  to  the 
conscious  ideas  which  come  from  observation  and 
experience. 


208  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

Much  has  been  said  by  me  in  the  preceding 
chapters  concerning  this  inspiration  or  intuition  ; 
and,  referring  especially  to  the  chapter  dealing  with 
the  Patent  System,  it  seems  to  me  that  we  will  be 
able  to  understand  very  clearly  what  this  intuition  is, 
which  in  Locke's  system  was  to  replace  "  innate 
ideas." 

It  is  incredible,  for  instance,  that  the  idea  of  the 
sewing  machine  or  telegraph  should  have  been  innate 
in  all  animal  life  from  time  immemorial.  If  this  were 
so,  there  could  indeed  be  no  priority  or  right  in 
invention  ;  nay  more,  all  possibilities  of  the  future 
must  be  carried  indefinitely  along  in  complete  form 
from  the  pre-amceba,  and,  worse  still,  uncounted 
millions  of  valuable  ideas  which  must  perish  for  ever 
unfructified,  for  no  one  can  contend  that  the  human 
race  ever  can  exhaust  all  possible  ideas.  This  again 
contradicts  the  law  of  parsimony,  which  is,  in  fact, 
the  rule  of  common-sense. 

Here,  in  an  invention,  we  have  an  intuition  ;  but 
this  is  not  an  idle  dream  ;  it  is  a  practically  working 
intuition,  and  a  practically  working  intuition  of  an 
invention  is  of  the  same  order  as  a  practically  working 
intuition  of  a  solar  system,  or  a  universe,  both  reduced 
to  practice  in  the  production  of  developed  forms  of 
crude  matter.  It,  of  course,  can  be  said  that  solar 
systems  create  themselves,  but  I  have  never  heard 
anyone  say  that  a  steam-engine  or  a  phonograph 
could  create  itself  ;  these  kinds  of  little  things  re- 
quire a  creator,  and  if  the  creation  was  an  intuition 
which  no  man  ever  before  consciously  had,  or  knew 
of,  or  knew  of  the  means  to  reduce  it  to  practice, 
before  this  particular  man  (for  if  there  had  been  such 
before  him,  then  the  invention  was  not  patentable), 
then  it  surely  came  to  him  from  without,  and  that 
without  was  the  source  of  that  intuition  at  that  time, 
and,  if  of  that  intuition,  then  it  is  the  source  of  other 
kindred  ideas  and  intuitions.  So  intuitions  are  not 
dreams,  but  revelations. 

I  have  heard  many  materialists  (I  use  the  term 
in  the  sense  in  which  Mr  Huxley  used  it)  talk  about 
Hume,  but  I  have  never  heard  one  of  them  talk 


POPULAR    ERROR  209 

Hume  himself.  In  Hume's  reduction  (he  never 
believed  it  himself,  by  the  way)  the  physical  world 
of  Locke  disappeared,  because  we  could  only  under- 
stand matter  by  means  of  mind,  on  which  concession 
Berkeley  assumed  the  individual  mind  or  conscious- 
ness to  be  the  sole  factor  ;  but  Hume  found  no  more 
warrant  for  individual  mind  than  for  individual 
matter,  and  so  this  disappeared  also,  leaving  clouds 
of  unmeaning  consciousness  floating  about  in  an 
immaterial  chaos,  which  by  their  contacts  emitted 
sparks,  then  split  up  again,  and  again  reunited,  as  we 
see  clouds  do  in  the  sky.  As  Winston  Churchill  says 
of  two  of  his  characters,  "  the  wires  of  their  lives  had 
crossed,  and  since  then  had  crossed  many  times  again, 
always  with  a  spark."  As  Morell  says,  in  his  work  on 
the  "  Speculative  Philosophy  of  Europe  "  :  "  The 
philosophy  of  Hume,  as  a  whole,  originated  and  fell 
with  himself.  A  more  partial  and  less  daring 
scepticism  might,  probably,  have  gained  many 
followers  ;  but  it  is  the  inevitable  result  of  every 
system,  professing  universal  unbelief,  to  destroy 
itself."  As  Sir  James  Mackintosh  well  says, 
"there  can  be  no  belief  that  there  can  be  no 
belief." 

Auguste  Comte  is  another  materialistic  philosopher 
who  is  always  quoted  at  second-hand.  I  refer  to  him, 
because  it  is  said  that  there  is  one  man  who  still  be- 
lieves in  him,  and  a  good  many  of  our  ethical-culture 
friends  believe  also  that  they  think  they  believe  in 
him  too.  Comte  was  a  disciple  of  St  Simon,  the 
theistic  French  Socialist.  But  in  building  his  great 
work  on  positive  philosophy  he  abandoned  the  re- 
ligious basis  of  St  Simon,  and  certainly  constructed 
a  magnificent  system,  a  sort  of  Aladdin's  palace,  but 
it  had  no  foundation  and  would  not  stand  alone. 
Later  on,  it  is  said,  he  fell  in  love  with  a  married 
woman  whose  untimely  death  caused  him  to  revise  his 
atheism.  But  Comte  had  already  left  his  great 
philosophy  with  nothing  in  it  higher  than  man,  so 
that  he  was  compelled  to  get  his  God  out  of  this 
human  coterie,  or  else  recant  his  whole  lifework  ;  and 
when  recantation  once  begins,  no  follower  has  any 


210  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

confidence  left  as  to  where  it  may  end.  So  Comte 
dealt  with  religion,  "  which,"  says  his  biographer, 
"  he  conceived  to  be  the  complete  harmony  of  human 
existence,  individual  and  collective,  or  the  universal 
unity  of  all  existences  in  one  great  Being,  whom  he 
calls  Humanity."  The  fallacy,  as  I  have  shown 
before,  in  this  work,  lies  in  the  fact  that  there  can  be 
no  such  universal  unity  or  community  of  all  human 
existences,  in  the  absence  of  a  common  source  or 
parentage,  and  to  find  that  you  must  go  back,  beyond, 
and  outside  our  present  humanity.  But  even  Comte 
abandoned  his  own  basis  of  universal  unity  in  finding 
all  sorts  of  exceptions  in  higher,  isolated  examples, 
and  these  he  made  the  subjects  of  worship  by  various 
homages  and  festivals,  and  reformed  the  calendar, 
naming  the  months  after  these  (on  his  theory) 
pathognomonic  freaks. 

We  now  come  to  John  Stuart  Mill,  whose  name 
looms  largely,  from  his  logic  and  philosophy.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  trace  his  work  here  ;  all  I  can 
do  is  to  show  that  in  the  fulness  of  his  power,  and 
after  all  his  labours,  he  was  obliged  to  confess  that  his 
artificial  and  laboured  system  broke  down,  and  was 
futile. 

Starting  with  Hume's  ultimation,  "  there  are 
thoughts  and  feelings  "  ;  on  this  radical  basis  alone 
he  built  his  "  constructive  idealism."  It  was  on  the 
phenomenon  of  memory  and  states  of  present  and 
past  consciousness,  that  his  whole  theory  broke  down, 
and  he  was  brave  enough  to  confess  it.  He  says : 
'  We  are  here  face  to  face  with  that  final  inexplica- 
bility  at  which,  as  Sir  William  Hamilton  observes, 
we  inevitably  arrive  when  we  reach  ultimate  facts  ; 
and,  in  general,  one  mode  of  stating  it  only  appears 
more  incomprehensible  than  another,  because  the 
whole  of  human  language  is  accommodated  to  the 
one,  and  is  so  incongruous  with  the  other  that  it 
cannot  be  expressed  in  any  terms  which  do  not  deny 
its  truth.  The  real  stumbling  block  is  perhaps  not 
in  any  theory  of  the  fact,  but  in  the  fact  itself.  The 
true  incomprehensibility  perhaps  is,  that  something 
which  has  ceased,  or  is  not  yet  in  existence,  can 


POPULAR    ERROR  211 

still  be,  in  a  manner,  present  -  -  that  a  series  of 
feelings  the  infinitely  greater  part  of  which  is  past 
or  future,  can  be  gathered  up,  as  it  were,  into  a 
single  present  conception,  accompanied  by  a  belief 
in  its  reality." 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

TYNDALL,   HUXLEY,   SPENCER,   HAECKEL 

IN  dealing  with  John  Tyndall  as  a  sheet-anchor  for 
materialism,  I  need  only  repeat  his  statement  that 
between  mind  and  matter  there  is  a  chasm  intellectu- 
ally impassable. 

Scant  comfort  will  the  materialist  obtain  from 
Huxley.  I  do  not  refer  to  his  popular  lectures,  but 
to  those  writings  in  which  he  was  dealing  with  in- 
tellectual forces  equal  to  his  own.  For  example, 
when,  discussing  Berkeley,  he  says :  "  The  honest  and 
rigorous  following  up  of  the  argument  which  leads  us 
to  materialism  inevitably  carries  us  beyond  it." 

Huxley's  misfortune  was  that  he  lived  in  the  early 
dawn  of  a  new  psychological  age,  and  the  data  were 
not  in  his  possession  which  his  own  positions  de- 
manded. He  has  always  presented  to  me  the  picture 
of  a  man  of  great  power,  struggling  toward  the  higher 
light,  but  trammelled,  bound  down,  and  almost 
strangled  by  physical  theories  which  he  could  not 
controvert,  and  was  driven,  against  himself,  to  try 
to  accept,  while  still  striving  for  the  coming  day, 
which  he  felt  must  come,  but  which  had  not  yet 
arrived. 

What  noble  words  are  these  !  "  For  anything 
that  may  be  proved  to  the  contrary,  there  may  be 
a  real  something  which  is  the  cause  of  all  our  im- 
pressions ;  that  sensations,  though  not  likenesses, 
are  symbols  of  that  something  ;  and  that  the  part  of 
that  something  which  we  call  the  nervous  system  is 
an  apparatus  for  supplying  us  with  a  sort  of  algebra 
of  fact,  based  on  these  symbols.  A  brain  may  be  the 
machinery  by  which  the  material  universe  becomes 
conscious  of  itself.  But  it  is  important  to  notice 

212 


OTHER    EARLIER    WRITERS          213 

that,  even  if  this  conception  of  the  universe  and  of 
relation  of  consciousness  to  its  other  components 
should  be  true,  we  should,  nevertheless,  be  still  bound 
by  the  limits  of  thought,  still  unable  to  refute  the 
arguments  of  pure  idealism.  The  more  completely 
the  materialistic  position  is  admitted,  the  easier  it 
is  to  show  that  the  idealistic  position  is  unassailable, 
if  the  idealist  confines  himself  within  the  limits  of 
positive  knowledge." 

Even  Dr  Hammond,  who  wrote  :  "  Just  as  a  good 
liver  creates  good  bile,  a  good  candle  gives  good  light, 
and  good  coal  a  good  fire,  so  does  a  good  brain  give  a 
good  mind.  When  the  brain  is  quiescent  there  is  no 
mind,"  was  compelled  to  admit  that  "  consciousness 
is  latent  in  the  spinal  cord  as  long  as  the  brain  is  in 
a  state  of  activity,  and  that  the  faculty  of  memory 
does  not  reside  in  it  at  all." 

In  oneof  his  clinical  casesof  somnambulism, indeed, 
he  conceded  his  whole  position.  For  there  this  young 
woman  performed  all  the  actions  only  capable  of 
being  done  by  sight,  and  yet  his  precautions  were  such 
that,  he  says,  "  I  was  entirely  satisfied  that  she  did 
not  see — at  least  with  her  eyes."  And  of  the  same 
case  he  again  says,  "  the  sense  of  sight  was  certainly 
not  employed,  nor  were  the  other  senses  awake  to 
ordinary  excitations." 

I  have  but  one  word  to  say  of  Herbert  Spencer,  so 
recently  dead.  His  more  than  thirty  great  volumes 
are  still  with  us,  crammed  with  facts,  not  always  the 
whole  of  the  facts,  or  stated  in  the  best  way,  but  when 
once  started  on  a  defective  basis,  what  was  the  poor 
man  to  do  ? 

I  will  tell  you  what  he  did.  Just  before  his  death 
he  put  out  a  little  volume,  "  Facts  and  Comments," 
of  which  he  says,  "  The  volume  herewith  issued  I  can 
say  with  certainty  will  be  my  last."  It  was  thus  the 
last  will  and  testament,  as  it  were,  of  this  remarkable 
man,  and  it  concludes  as  follows,  in  his  article  on 
"  Ultimate  Questions  "  :— 

"  But  it  seems  a  strange  and  repugnant  conclusion 
that  with  the  cessation  of  consciousness  at  death, there 
ceases  to  be  any  knowledge  of  having  existed.  With 


214  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

his  last  breath  it  becomes  to  each  the  same  thing  as 
though  he  had  never  lived. 

"  And  then  the  consciousness  itself — what  is  it 
during  the  time  that  it  continues  ?  And  what  be- 
comes of  it  when  it  ends  ?  We  can  only  infer  that  it 
is  a  specialised  and  individualised  form  of  that  Infinite 
and  Eternal  Energy  which  transcends  both  our  know- 
ledge and  our  imagination  ;  and  that  at  death  its 
elements  lapse  into  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  energy 
whence  they  were  derived." 

In  view  of  the  long  series  of  works  issued  by 
Herbert  Spencer,  each  one  of  which  had  become  an 
anchor  to  hold  him  fast  against  winds  and  currents, 
this  is  all  the  most  ardent  lover  of  truth  could  hope 
for,  from  this  author,  and  far  more  than  one  had  any 
right  to  expect. 

When  examined,  it  concedes  the  insufficiency  of 
any  materialistic  or  agnostic  philosophy  based  on  his 
earlier  writings,  and  enables  us  to  correct  this  last 
statement  by  the  concessions  he  makes  in  stating  it. 
He  says  that  our  consciousness  is  "  specialised  and 
individualised  "  ;  now,  if  derived  from  that  Infinite 
and  Eternal  Energy,  must  not  that  Infinite  and 
Eternal  Energy  also  be  individualised  and  specialised  ? 
If  they  are  of  the  same  order  (and,  being  the  same  in 
derivation,  they  must  be  of  the  same  order)  they  must 
both  be  inevitably  so. 

He  infers  that,  at  death,  the  elements  of  this 
"  specialised  and  individualised "  consciousness  of 
ours  will  lapse  into  the  source  from  which  it  was 
derived. 

But  there  is  no  ground  for  such  inference,  if  our 
consciousness  is  specialised  and  individualised;  the 
most  that  can  be  said  is  that  this  is  a  question  to  be 
settled  by  evidence.  Spiritualists  claim  that  they 
have  this  evidence  ;  all  religion  of  every  type  and  land 
and  age  claims  this  fact  also  ;  our  own  conscious- 
ness, as  Spencer  says,  finds  such  an  opposite  ending 
"  strange  and  repugnant."  Now  what  argument  can 
be  adduced  in  its  favour  ?  If  these  individualities 
are  pushed  out  or  escape,  to  become  specialised,  to 
learn  and  to  suffer  as  they  become  individualised,  what 


OTHER    EARLIER    WRITERS          215 

would  be  gained  by  having  them  again  absorbed  into, 
or  fall  into,  the  same  source  from  which  they  were  de- 
rived ?  Would  they  add  anything  to  the  knowledge, 
power  or  happiness  of  that  great  source  ?  What  is 
all  our  trials,  and  pain,  and  grief,  and  care,  and  worri- 
ment  for,  in  such  a  case  ?  We  come  back  battered, 
broken  and  empty-handed,  and  no  one,  no  origin,  no 
source,  nothing,  is  or  can  be  bettered  or  benefited  by 
this  incessant  push  and  pull.  And  what  pushes,  and 
what  pulls  ?  Spencer  here  has  been  betrayed  by  a 
false  analogy  with  the  physical  phenomena  of  gravita- 
tion, and  his  hypothesis  was  only  tenable  in  those 
pre-scientific  days  when  philosophers  taught  that 
"  Nature  abhors  a  vacuum."  We  know  better  now. 
Says  Tennyson  : 

"  That  each,  who  seems  a  separate  whole, 

Should  move  his  rounds,  and  fusing  all 
The  skirts  of  self  again,  should  fall 
Remerging  in  the  general  soul, 

"  Is  faith  as  vague,  as  all  unsweet: 

Eternal  form  shall  still  divide 
The  eternal  soul  from  all  beside  ; 
And  I  shall  know  him,  when  we  meet  ; 

"  And  we  shall  sit  at  endless  feast  t 

Enjoying  each  the  other's  good. 
What  vaster  dream  can  hit  the  mood 
Of  love  on  earth  ?  " 

Some  of  the  men  I  have  named  were  known  as 
idealists,  some  semi-materialists,  some  materialists, 
and  some  alternately  one  or  the  other,  but  the  type 
was  the  same  in  all.  Just  as  I  showed  you  that 
credulity  and  incredulity  were  different  presentations 
of  the  selfsame  unscientific  superstition,  so  con- 
structive idealism  and  "  crass  materialism  "  are  the 
same.  Whether  materialism  be  conceived  of  as 
extended  into  idealism,  or  the  reverse,  provided  they 
are  conceived  of  as  automatic,  self-derived  and  self- 
operative,  they  are  alike ;  they  are  all  dealt  with  by  the 
same  arguments,  and  arrive  at  the  same  result.  The 
essence  of  these  two  is  the  same,  and  they  depend 
upon  empiricism  for  their  logic,  just  as  spiritualism 
depends  upon  transcendentalism  for  its  basis. 


216  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

Hence  these  two  sharply  differentiated  and  con- 
tradictory theses  are  known  as  the  empirical  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  transcendental  on  the  other.  The 
empirical  finds  its  home  and  faith  in  the  contempla- 
tion and  rationale  of  what  we  see  about  us,  handled 
by  syllogisms,  and  walled  in  by  agnosticism  ;  on  the 
contrary,  the  transcendental,  as  its  etymology  implies, 
"  climbs  beyond,"  and  finding  that  empiricism  leaves 
unconsidered  not  only  everything  outside  its  micro- 
scopic field,  but  even  the  ground  which  it  occupies,  it 
finds  these  fundamental  questions  forced  upon  it, 
and  having  mind,  soul,  intellect  and  life  in  its  pos- 
session, uses  these  tools  in  the  only  way  possible,  and 
to  the  whole  extent  available  and  sure,  and  hence  finds 
the  source  of  mind,  soul,  intellect  and  life,  in  the  only 
conceivable  source  of  mind,  soul,  intellect  and  life  ; 
and  thence  deductively  traces  down  the  line  by  rigid 
experiment,  but  with  a  field  limited  only  by  the 
universe  and  eternity,  and  with  sources  and  origins 
only  compatible  with  the  universal,  and  with  intelli- 
gence kindred  with  our  own.  The  one  works  in  a 
dark  room  with  a  rushlight,  the  other  in  the  open 
fields  with  the  sunlight ;  one  finds  a  nebula  and  a 
stone  wall,  the  other  infinite  spirit  and  an  eternal  God. 
As  Mrs  Browning  said,  amid  the  tragedy  of  life  and 
death, 

"  I  smiled  to  think  God's  greatness  flowed  around  our  incompleteness, 
Round  our  restlessness,  His  rest." 

To  quote  from  Murdock,  cited  in  Webster's 
Dictionary,  "  Transcendentalism  claims  to  have  a 
true  knowledge  of  all  things  material  and  immaterial, 
human  and  divine,  so  far  as  the  mind  is  capable  of 
knowing  them.  And  in  this  sense  the  word  tran- 
scendentalism is  now  most  used." 

You  will  see  that  such  majestic  demands  require 
that  the  spiritualism  of  the  universe  shall  be  cognisable, 
that  God  is  a  spirit,  that  the  psychism  of  the  universe 
is  akin  to  and  interpretable  by  our  own  psychism,  and 
that  all  religion  is,  in  its  essence,  the  revelation  from 
God  and  the  reception  by  man  of  divine  truth. 

Beyond  all  question  every  one  of  these  great  truths 


OTHER   EARLIER   WRITERS          217 

has  been  scientifically  worked  out  and  demonstrated. 
It  is  not  for  those  who  have  never  tried  it  to  deny  it ; 
it  is  not  for  those  whose  pet  superstition  is  incredulity 
to  deny  it ;  it  is  not  for  physical  science,  which  has 
erected  a  lawn-tennis  netting  of  transparent  a  priori, 
to  sit  behind  it  and  nurse  its  misery — there  are  too 
many  looking  on,  but  it  is,  for  all  this  ilk,  to  get 
down  to  work,  and  we  well  know  what  happens  to 
every  honest  investigator  who  does  actually  get  down 
to  work,  and  keep  working. 

There  are  many  other  names  beside  those  I  have 
referred  to,  which  will  come  to  you,  but  the  men  I 
have  mentioned  are  types  of  all  the  various  classes,  and 
are  those  who  stand  in  the  popular  eye,  for  materialism 
in  all  its  various  garbs.  But  there  is  yet  one  who 
must  be  considered,  because  he  is  the  most  recent,  and 
his  work  is  so  materialistic  and  at  the  same  time  so 
popular,  that  "  when  all  else  fails,"  as  the  quack 
medical  advertisements  run,  the  sceptics  consult 
Haeckel,  and  particularly  his  "  Riddle  of  the  Uni- 
verse." 

For  the  skilled  student  this  is  a  good  book  to  read, 
because  the  author  unconsciously  uncovers  himself, 
shows  his  partialities  and  shortcomings  so  luminously 
that  one  can  see  precisely  how  the  reader  is  sought 
to  be  misled,  and  how,  if  the  facts  were  correctly  and 
scientifically  stated,  the  conclusions  would  be  precisely 
the  opposite. 

After  what  I  have  already  said  in  these  chapters, 
you  will  all  agree  that  to  properly  handle  these 
subjects,  and  especially  for  popular  reading,  a  writer 
must  be  thoroughly  capable  and  excellently  equipped. 
You  will  recollect  that  even  Romanes  was  obliged  to 
revise  his  whole  work  on  these  subjects,  and  take 
opposite  ground,  as  soon  as  he  had  gone  deeply  into 
biology,  psychology  and  anthropology,  and  that  he 
confessed  that  he  would  have  learned  the  truth  long 
before  if  he  had  not  been  "  too  deeply  immersed  in 
merely  physical  research  !  ': 

Now,  have  we  so  capable  a  man,  in  all  the  various 
sciences  that  the  occasion  requires,  in  Ernest  Haeckel, 
as  a  teacher  ?  He  says  in  his  preface,  "  My  own 


I 


218  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

command  of  the  various  branches  of  science  is  uneven 
and  defective,  so  that  I  can  attempt  no  more  than  to 
sketch  the  general  plan  of  such  a  world-picture,  and 
point  out  the  pervading  unity  of  its  parts,  however 
imperfect  be  the  execution."  Haeckel's  latest  book 
is  more  defective  even  than  his  earlier  ones,  but  the 
essential  ideas  are  the  same.  The  factors  employed 
are  heredity  and  environment,  neither  of  which  has 
he  correctly  stated,  as  understood  in  biology.  To 
illustrate  this,  I  will  quote  the  following  : — "  By  these 
empirical  facts  of  conception,  moreover,  the  further 
fact  of  extreme  importance  is  established,  that  every 
man,  like  every  other  animal,  has  a  beginning  of 
existence  ;  the  complete  copulation  of  the  two  sexual 
cell-nuclei  marks  the  precise  moment  when  not  only 
the  body,  but  also  the  soul  of  the  new  stem-cell  makes 
its  appearance.  This  fact  suffices  of  itself  to  destroy 
the  myth  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  to  which  we 
shall  return  later  on.  It  suffices,  too,  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  still  prevalent  superstition  that  man  owes 
his  personal  existence  to  the  favour  of  God." 

His  argument T  you  will  see,  falls  of  itself,  for  there 
are  probably  millions  of  living  beings  never  born  of 
sexual  union  at  all,  for  every  one  that  is  so  born.  Silk- 
worms are  now  always  bred  from  virgin  mothers,  and 
for  one  case  of  amphimixis  (sexual  generation)  there 
are  uncounted  millions  of  karyokinesis  (asexual 
generation),  and,  many  times,  the  same  animal  re- 
produces indifferently  by  one  mode  or  the  other. 
The  "  souls  "  must  here  be  in  a  mixed-up  state  surely. 
But  his  whole  description  of  sexual  generation  is  false. 
There  is  no  "  fusion  "  as  he  says  there  is  ;  he  says 
nothing  of  the  centrosomes.  those  commanding 
generals  who  marshal  their  chromatin  into  platoons 
from  a.  distance,  march  them  about  like  soldiers,  and 
order  one-half  to  break  to  the  rear  and  march  off  the 
field  ;  nothing  of  the  polar  bodies  ;  nothing  of  the 
chromosomes ;  nothing  of  the  independent  psychic 
fife  ar>H  antics  of  the  zoogonidiaj,  the  zoosppres,  living 
animals  far  below  the  smallest  cells,  and  the  offcast 
^of  vegetable  growths  as  low  as  seaweeds.  Where  was 
"  copulation  there  ?  In  fact,  he  ignores,  perverts 


OTHER    EARLIER    WRITERS          219 

and  conceals,  all  the  essential  keynote  facts  which 
we  should  expect  from  the  a  priori  of  a  man  who  has 
been  writing,  as  he  says,  for  a  generation  with  an 
imperfect  and  defective  command  of  the  various 
branches  of  science  of  which  he  claims  to  treat. 

Charles  Darwin,  unfortunately,  for  he  fully  under- 
stood the  truth,  used  "  environment "  without 
qualification  at  times,  and  this  has  become  a  shibbo- 
leth with  the  half -educated.  Environment,  or  sur- 
roundings, as  it  means,  has  of  itself  no  power  to  modify 
anything.  A  man  walking  along  a  road  comes  to  a 
long,  steep  hill.  The  hill  does  nothing  ;  if  he  sits 
down  there  it  is  just  as  though  there  were  no  hill ;  but 
if  he  undertakes  to  climb  the  hill,  then  the  exertion 
he  puts  forth  modifies  the  man,  but  it  was  not  the 
environment  which  modified  him.  It  is  the  over- 
coming, or  failure  to  overcome,  which  acts,  and  that 
is  inside  the  man,  is  part  of  his  endowment  or  acquire- 
ment, is  a  part  of  the  man  himself  ;  environment  is 
nothing  in  itself  ;  the  man  is  everything. 


CHAPTER    XXIX 

HEREDITY 

So  of  heredity.  If  the  earliest  forms  of  animal  or 
vegetable  life  were  secretly  endowed  with  the  genius 
of  a  Shakespeare,  or  Newton,  or  Copernicus,  or  other 
almost  superhuman  men,  then  I  could  understand  how 
some  subconscious  memory,  reaching  on  from  genera- 
tion to  generation,  for  millions  of  years,  might  leave 
us  some  heredity,  amounting  to  perhaps  the  intelli- 
gence of  zoospores  or  bacteria.  But  how  a  man  like 
Lord  Kelvin  should  have  obtained  his  ability  and 
knowledge,  by  a  survival  of  memory  from  an  amoeba, 
or  from  an  invertebrate  of  the  Devonian,  or  a  verte- 
brate of  the  Triassic,  is  incredible  to  me. 

Even  if  true,  Haeckel  and  his  friends  would  have 
to  explain  where  these  suddenly  endowed  ancestors 
obtained  all  their  knowledge,  which  they  certainly 
never  needed  and  never  used,  and  whether,  if  such 
sudden  endowments  were  flying  about,  one  of  these 
might  not  better  have  struck  Lord  Kelvin  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  than  a  tadpole  in  the  year  one.  And 
how  James  Watt  and  Eli  Whitney  and  Elias  Howe 
could  have  gotten  the  steam-engine,  the  cotton  gin, 
and  the  sewing  machine  from  a  polyp  a  quarter  of  an 
inch  long,  ten  million  years  ago,  and  which  never  got 
its  head  above  sea  water,  except  by  accident,  is  also 
incredible  to  me. 

I  believe  in  heredity  ;  as  I  have  already  said,  I 

believe  with  Wordsworth,  that, 

>* 

"  Trailing  clouds  of  glory  do  we  come 
From  God,  who  is  our  home." 

But  Haeckel's  scheme  of  heredity  (which  Weis- 
mann,  in  far  more  scientific,  and  more  dainty,  but  only 

220 


HEREDITY  221 

tentative,  form/  struck  in  his  Germ-Plasm  Theory) 
is  all  wrong  ;  the  system  of  fusions  and  averages 
which  Haeckel  thought  he  saw,  or  had  heard  of,  do  not 
exist.  Later  researches  of  the  most  eminent  authori- 
ties are  totally  at  variance  with  what  he  asserts  of 
heredity,  as  a  physical  process  of  physiological  units. 

Says  George  Sandeman,  in  his  '  Problems  of 
Biology  "  :  "  I  have  no  theory  at  all  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  essential  differences  of  germs.  Only,  we  cannot 
find  it  in  their  chemical  or  structural  or  physiological 
properties.  When  a  somatic  cell,  for  instance,  re- 
produces the  whole  form,  we  cannot  fail  to  recognise 
that  it  does  so,  as  it  were,  in  spite  of  its  particular 
functions  and  its  particular  structures.  And  we  are 
not,  on  the  other  hand,  surprised  to  learn  that  what 
can  be  known  about  the  particulars  of  germs  leads  us 
no  nearer  to  an  understanding  of  their  form-determin- 
ing properties.  We  can  only  say  that  we  do  not  know 
the  essential  differences  of  germs  and  of  protoplasms 
in  this  respect,  and  that  what  differences  we  do  know 
appear  to  be  wholly  accidental  and  irrelevant  to  this 
unknown  essential  difference.  This  seems  to  be 
equivalent  to  the  admission  that  there  is  no  difference 
of  germs  or  of  protoplasms  in  terms  of  which  the 
possibilities  of  form  might  be,  even  formally,  ex- 
pressed ;  and,  for  my  part,  taking  all  the  evidence 
together,  I  believe  that  this  is  the  case. 

"  Yet  popular  teaching  ordinarily  proceeds  upon 
the  ground  that  there  is  a  special  protoplasm  for  every 
specific,  and  therefore  for  every  individual  form,  and 
the  nature  of  this  protoplasm  is  the  complete  deter- 
mination of  the  individual  form.  Now  we  know 
enough  to  be  able  to  contradict  this  statement,  so 
long  as  it  takes  into  account  any  of  those  qualities  of 
protoplasm  which  are  or  which  may  be  known.  But 
when  it  has  recourse  to  qualities  which  we  neither 
know  nor  can  know  (that  is,  when  speculation  without 
facts  takes  the  place  of  investigation),  then  we  can 
only  leave  it  alone  as  a  hypothesis  which  is  not  aware 
even  of  its  own  difficulties." 

The  only  possible  solution,  this  writer  believes,  is 
in  a  "  unity  of  feeling  "  of  the  organism.  He  says, 


222  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

"  Now  this  unity  of  feeling  is  a  thing  by  itself,  in  that 
there  came  into  it  all  the  parts  and  experiences  of  the 
organism.  It  it  thus  like  an  agent  which  under- 
stands all  that  is  going  on,  only  that  in  the  latter  case 
every  difference  in  the  organism  has  its  place  as  an 
explicit  difference  in  the  mind  of  the  agent,  whereas 
in  the  case  with  which  we  have  to  do  the  resultant 
state  of  feeling  is  an  apparently  homogeneous  unity, 
for  which  each  change  in  the  body  has  its  value,  but  in 
which  each  loses  its  character  as  a  separate  thing. 
The  unity  of  feeling  has  the  additional  advantage  of 
being  a  fact,  whereas  the  agent  is  not  a  fact." 

The  action  is  psychical,  of  course,  corresponding 
to  the  vis  medicatrix  naturce  of  the  living  organism. 
It  is  not  physical,  hence  must  be  spiritual. 

It  belongs  to  the  same  category  as  instinct,  which 
Von  Hartmann  characterises  as  clairvoyance  from  the 
unconscious,  and  Kant  as  the  voice  of  God. 

Professor  Shaler,in  his"  Interpretation  of  Nature," 
deals  with  this  question  of  heredity  very  fully.  The 
physical  organisation  of  man  can  in  no  wise  account 
for  his  advancement.  The  author  says :  "  The 
success  of  man  has  been  due,  not  to  any  very  peculiar 
accomplishment  of  an  organic  kind,  for  in  his  frame 
he  is  much  like  his  kindred,  the  anthropoids.  It  has 
been  won  by  an  entire  change  in  the  limitations  of  his 
psychic  development.  When  we  come  to  man,  we 
appear  to  find  the  old  bondage  of  the  mind  to  the  body 
swept  away  ;  and  the  intellectual  parts  develop  with 
extraordinary  rapidity,  while  the  frame  remains 
essentially  unchanged." 

This  alone  would  lead  us  to  deal  most  cautiously 
with  any  charge  that  these  factors,  "  the  dominant 
characteristic  of  man,"  could  be  a  physical  survival 
from  lower  organs  or  organisms  which  are  devoid  of 
this  dominant  characteristic,  "  which  enables  us  to 
class  man  as  an  entirely  new  kind  of  animal." 

Professor  Shaler  emphasises  the  necessity  of  this 
caution,  and  shows  that  even  materialistic  naturalists 
have  yielded  their  consent.  He  says  :  "  Gradually 
it  has  been  forced  upon  them  that  they  too  have  to 
assume  the  intangible  if  they  would  take  any  firm 


HEREDITY  223 

steps  in  explaining  the  series  of  facts  with  which  they 
have  to  deal.  A  large  part  of  this  caution  is  due  to 
our  study  of  organic  phenomena,  especially  in  that 
part  of  the  biologic  field  where  the  investigator  has 
to  consider  the  marvellous  truths  of  inheritance.  In 
face  of  the  facts  of  descent,  the  most  pragmatic 
naturalist  is  sure  to  learn  some  caution  in  his  criticism 
of  philosophers  and  theologians." 

Referring  to  the  theory  of  pangenesis,  which 
Darwin  offered  tentatively  only,  Professor  Shaler 
says:  "Admirable  as  is  the  hypothesis  of  pangenesis 
when  considered  merely  as  a  daring  feat  of  the 
scientific  imagination,  it  is  evident  that  it  utterly 
fails  to  satisfy  the  first  condition  of  a  theory,  namely, 
that  it  shall  bring  a  portion  of  the  unknown  within 
the  limits  of  the  understanding.  It  does  not  in  the 
least  extend  or  simplify  our  conception,  but  leaves  us 
in  the  densest  fog  of  speculation. 

'  The  way  in  which  the  generational  transmission 
is  affected  not  only  goes  quite  beyond  our  field  of 
knowledge  but  appears  also  to  transcend  the  limits 
of  the  scientific  imagination." 

The  only  conclusion,  he  says,  at  least  at  the  present 
time,  is  that  matter  even  in  its  simpler  states  of 
organisation  in  the  atom,  or  molecule,  may  contain  a 
practically  infinite  body  of  latent  powers,  as  con- 
tradistinguished from  latent  physical  properties. 
This  is  in  substantial  accord  with  the  views  of  Sir 
John  Herschel,  that  mind  is  the  key  that  unlocks  the 
vis-viva,  not  the  vis  viva  itself,  but  the  hair-trigger 
which  by  the  lightest  touch  explodes  a  mine. 

Professor  James,  in  his  "Varieties  of  Religious 
Experience,"  says  :  '  The  subconscious  self  is  now- 
adays a  well-accredited  psychological  entity  ;  and  I 
believe  that  in  it  we  have  exactly  the  mediating  term 
required.  Apart  from  all  religious  considerations, 
there  is  actually  and  literally  more  life  in  our  total 
soul  than  we  are  at  any  time  aware  of.  The  ex- 
ploration of  the  transmarginal  field  has  hardly  yet 
been  seriously  undertaken,  but  what  Mr  Myers  said 
in  1892  in  his  essay  on  the  Subliminal  Consciousness 
is  as  true  as  when  it  was  first  written.  '  Each  of  us 


224  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

is  in  reality  an  abiding  psychical  entity  far  more 
extensive  than  he  knows — an  individuality  which 
can  never  express  itself  completely  through  any 
corporeal  manifestation.  The  Self  manifests  through 
the  organism  ;  but  there  is  always  some  part  of  the 
self  unmanifested  ;  and  always,  as  it  seems,  some 
power  of  organic  expression  in  abeyance  or  reserve.' 

"  In  it  many  of  the  performances  of  genius  seem 
also  to  have  their  origin  ;  and,  in  our  study  of  con- 
version, of  mystical  experiences,  and  of  prayer,  we 
have  seen  how  striking  a  part  invasions  from  this 
region  play  in  the  individual  life." 

Again :  "  God  is  the  natural  appellation,  for  us 
Christians  at  least,  for  the  supreme  reality,  so  I  will 
call  this  higher  part  of  the  Universe  by  the  name  of 
God.  We  and  God  have  business  with  each  other ; 
and  in  opening  ourselves  to  His  influence  our  deepest 
destiny  is  fulfilled." 

Says  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  in  his  Presidential  Address 
before  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research  in  1902 : 
"  To  tell  the  truth,  I  do  not  myself  hold  that  the 
whole  of  any  one  of  us  is  incarnated  in  these  terrestrial 
bodies  ;  certainly  not  in  childhood  ;  more,  but  not 
perhaps  so  very  much  more,  in  adult  life.  What  is 
manifested  in  this  body  is,  I  venture  to  think  likely, 
only  a  portion,  an  individualised,  a  definite  portion, 
of  a  much  larger  whole.  What  the  rest  of  me  may  be 
doing,  for  these  few  years  while  I  am  here,  I  do  not 
know  ;  perhaps  it  is  asleep  ;  but  probably  it  is  not 
so  entirely  asleep  with  men  of  genius  ;  nor,  perhaps, 
is  it  all  completely  inactive  with  the  people  called 
'  mediums.'  ' 

Says  Professor  Barrett,  in  his  Presidential  Address 
in  1904,  "If  telepathy  be  indisputable, if  ourcreaturely 
minds  can,  without  voice  or  sensation,  impress  each 
other,  the  Infinite  mind  is  likely  thus  to  have  revealed 
itself  in  all  ages  to  responsive  human  hearts.  Some 
may  have  the  spiritual  ear,  the  open  vision,  but  to 
all  of  us  there  comes  at  times  the  echo  of  that  larger 
Life  which  is  slowly  expressing  itself  in  humanity  as 
the  ages  gradually  unfold.  In  fact,  the  teaching  of 
science  has  ever  been  that  we  are  not  isolated  in,  or 


HEREDITY  225 

from,  the  great  Cosmos  ;  the  light  of  suns  and  stars 
reaches  us,  the  mysterious  force  of  gravitation  binds 
the  whole  material  universe  into  an  organic  whole, 
the  minutest  molecule  and  the  most  distant  orb  are 
bathed  in  one  and  the  self-same  medium.  But 
surely  beyond  and  above  all  these  material  links  is 
the  solidarity  of  Mind." 

Says  Nikola  Tesla,  the  electrical  discoverer,  in 
one  of  his  lectures :  "  Nature  has  stored  up  in  the 
universe  infinite  energy.  .  .  .  We  are  whirling 
through  space  with  an  inconceivable  speed,  all  around 
us  everything  is  moving,  everywhere  is  energy.  .  .  . 
Nature's  immeasurable,  all-pervading  energy,  which 
ever  and  anon  changing  and  moving,  like  a  soul 
animates  the  inert  universe.  .  .  .  Far  beyond  the 
limit  of  perception  of  our  senses  the  spirit  still  can 
guide  us." 

Says  Prof.  William  H.  Thomson,  in  his  "  Material- 
ism and  Modern  Physiology  of  the  Nervous  System  "  : 
"  Now  with  the  fact  obstinately  remaining  that  mind 
is  a  great  reality,  Huxley  himself  often  maintaining 
that  it  is  the  first  of  all  realities,  what  is  there  incon- 
ceivable about  its  separate  existence,  merely  because 
we  are  unacquainted,  at  present,  with  the  conditions 
of  such  a  separate  existence  ?  On  account  of  that 
deficiency,  must  we  suspend  further  inferences,  and 
return  to  matter  and  force,  which  already  we  have 
been  told  can  give  no  intimation  of  what  mind  is 
although  we  know  that  there  must  be  such  a  thing 
as  mind  ?  " 

Says  Professor  Conn  :  "At  the  present  time  we 
know  of  no  such  simple  protoplasm  capable  of  living 
activities  apart  from  machinery,  and  the  problem  of 
explaining  life  even  in  the  simplest  form  known, 
remains  the  problem  of  explaining  a  machine.  .  .  . 
We  are  apparently  as  far  from  the  real  goal  of  a 
natural  explanation  of  life  as  we  were  before  the  dis- 
covery of  protoplasm." 

In  "  Bateson's  Problems  of  Heredity,"  republished 
from  the  original  English  edition  by  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  in  1902,  this  careful  writer,  Fellow 
of  the  Royal  Society,  says  :  "  While  in  other  branches 


226  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

of  physiology  such  great  progress  has  of  late  been 
made,  our  knowledge  of  heredity  has  increased  but 
little.  Let  us  recognise  from  the  outset  that  as  to  the 
essential  nature  of  the  phenomena  of  heredity  we 
still  know  absolutely  nothing.  We  have  no  glimmer- 
ing of  an  idea  as  to  what  constitutes  the  essential 
process  by  which  the  likeness  of  the  parent  is  trans- 
mitted to  the  offspring.  ...  Of  the  nature  of  the 
physical  basis  of  heredity  we  have  no  conception  at 
all.  No  one  has  yet  any  suggestion,  working 
hypothesis,  or  mental  picture  that  has  thus  far  helped 
in  the  slightest  degree  to  penetrate  beyond  what  we 
see.  The  process  is  as  utterly  mysterious  to  us  as  a 
flash  of  lightning  is  to  a  savage.  We  do  not  know 
what  is  the  essential  agent  in  the  transmission  of 
parental  characters,  not  even  whether  it  is  a  material 
agent  or  not.'' 

Among  the  examples  cited  by  Bateson  are  two 
species  of  pea,  permanent  and  long  established.     One 
is  a  tall  stem,  the  other  a  dwarf.     When  these  are 
cross-bred,  either  the  one  or  the  other  progeny  reap- 
pears unchanged,  or  else  the  new  offspring  is  much 
taller  than  the  taller  of  the  two  parents.     I  wish  that 
I  could  reproduce  more  of  this  evidence.     But  I  can 
do  better,  for  I  can  quote  from  Haeckel  what  his  own 
opinion  of,  and  reliance  on,  Romanes  was,  and  then 
show  you  what  befell  Romanes  when  he  did  what 
Haeckel  confesses  that  he  himself  did  not  do,  and 
how  Haeckel  is  put  to  shame  by  his  chosen  exemplar. 
Says  Haeckel :  "To  George  Romanes  we  owe  the 
further  development  of  Darwin's  psychology,  and  its 
special  application  to  the  different  sections  of  psychic 
activity.      Unfortunately,    his    premature    decease 
prevented  the  completion  of  the  great  work  which 
was  to  reconstruct  every  section  of  comparative  psy- 
chology on  the  lines  of  monistic  evolution.    The 
two  volumes  of  this  work  which  were  completed  are 
among  the  most  valuable  productions  of  psychological 
literature.  .  .  .  The  distinguished  psychologist  gives 
a  convincing  proof  that  the  psychological  barrier 
between  man  and  the  brute  has  been  overcome.  .  .  I 
recommend  those  of  my  readers  who  are  interested 


HEREDITY  227 

in  these  momentous  questions  of  psychology  to  study 
the  profound  work  of  Romanes.  I  am  completely 
at  one  with  him  and  Darwin  in  almost  all  their  views 
and  convictions.  Wherever  an  apparent  discrepancy 
is  found  between  those  two  authors  and  my  earlier 
productions,  it  is  either  a  case  of  imperfect  expression 
on  my  part  or  an  unimportant  difference  in  applica- 
tion of  principle." 

Now,  when  Haeckel  had  finished  his  "  Riddle  of 
the  Universe,"  Romanes  was  already  dead,  regretting 
with  tears  that  his  work  was  only  half  finished  ;  but 
the  last  work  of  Romanes,  in  completion  of  his 
psychology,  had  not  yet  appeared,  having  been 
published  posthumously.  Had  Haeckel  seen  these 
small  thin  volumes  of  Romanes,  the  fruit  of  his 
deeper  studies  and  investigations,  he  would  either 
have  revised  his  own  eulogy  of  Romanes,  or  else  the 
text  of  his  own  Riddle.  For  Haeckel  has  left  us  a 
riddle  which  Romanes  has  fully  answered,  but  not  as 
Haeckel  expected — and  you  will  not  find  the  answer 
in  Haeckel  at  all,  because  Haeckel  had  ceased  to 
study  before  Romanes  had  actually  begun.  Says 
Romanes :  "  Physical  causation  cannot  be  made  to 
supply  its  own  explanations."  '  When  I  wrote  the 
preceding  treatise  [in  1878],  I  did  not  sufficiently  ap- 
preciate the  immense  importance  of  human  nature, 
as  distinguished  from  physical  nature,  in  any  enquiry 
touching  Theism.  But  since  then,  I  have  seriously 
studied  anthropology  (including  the  science  of  com- 
parative religions),  psychology  and  metaphysics, 
with  the  result  of  clearly  seeing  that  human  nature 
is  the  most  important  part  of  nature  as  a  whole 
whereby  to  investigate  the  theory  of  Theism.  This 
I  ought  to  have  anticipated  on  merely  a  priori 
grounds,  and  no  doubt  should  have  perceived,  had 
I  not  been  too  much  immersed  in  merely  physical 
research. 

"  I  now  perceive  two  well-nigh  fatal  oversights 
which  I  then  committed.  The  first  was  undue  con- 
fidence in  merely  syllogistic  conclusions,  even  when 
derived  from  sound  premises,  in  regions  of  such  high 
abstraction.  The  second  was,  in  not  being  sum- 


228  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

ciently  careful  in  examining  the  foundations  of  my 
criticism,  that  is,  the  validity  of  its  premises. 

"  In  that  treatise  I  have  since  come  to  see  that  I 
was  wrong  touching  what  I  constituted  the  basal 
argument  for  my  negative  conclusion.  Therefore 
I  now  feel  it  obligatory  on  me  to  publish  the  follow- 
ing results  of  my  maturer  thought,  from  the  same 
standpoint  of  pure  reason." 

Here  is  the  summary  of  a  few  of  the  results  : 

1.  Disbelief  is  easier  than  belief,  if  in  accordance 
with  environment  or  custom,  and  is  usually  due  to 
indolence,  and  is  never  a  thing  to  be  proud  of.     To 
believe  requires  a  spiritual  use  of  the  imagination, 
and  very   few   unbelievers   have   any   justification, 
either  intellectual  or  spiritual,  for    their  own  un- 
belief. 

2 .  Probation  is  the  only  rational  explanation  of  life . 

3.  Agnostics  must  investigate  religion,  even  if  it 
is  to  be  considered  only  as  intuitional. 

4.  In  considering  the  hypothesis  of  design,  it  can 
be  verified  by  the  organ  of  immediate  intuition,  which 
is  supplementary  to  the  rational. 

5.  The  attitude  of  scientific  men  towards  spiritual- 
ism, especially  with  such  phenomena  as  those  of  mes- 
merism to  warn  them,  shows  that  "  scientific  men  are 
quite  as  dogmatic  as  the  straitest  sect  of  theologians. 
These  men  all  professed  to  be  agnostics  at  the  very 
time  when  thus  so  egregiously  violating  their  philo- 
sophy by  their  conduct." 

6.  If  choice  has  to  be  made  between  mysticism 
and  agnosticism,  "  the  mystic  might  claim  higher 
authority  for  his  direct  intuitions." 

7.  It  is  on  all  sides  worth  considering  (blatant 
ignorance  or  base  vulgarity  alone  excepted)  that  the 
revolution  effected  by  Christianity  in  human  life  is 
immeasurable  and   unparalleled  by  any  other  move- 
ment in  history. 

8.  The  theory  of  causation  lands  us  in  mystery  ; 
volition  is  the  only  known  cause. 

9.  "  The  common  hypothesis  on  which  all  dis- 
putes between  Science  and  Religion  have  arisen,  is 
highly    dubious."     He  says  that  theologians  have 


HEREDITY  229 

played  into  the  hands  of  materialists  by  even  con- 
ceding that  "  if  there  be  a  personal  God,  he  is  not 
immediately  concerned  with  causation."  In  fact,  he 
demands,  and  science  and  religion  demand,  a  voli- 
tional and  ever-causative  God,  ever  present  and  in 
full  and  active  control. 

10.  Huxley    falls    into    the    common    error    of 
identifying  "  faith  with  opinion." 

11.  Gradual  evolution  is  in  analogy  with  God's 
other  work. 

12.  "It  does  not  leave  him  without  a  witness  at 
any  time  during  the  historic  period." 

13.  "It  gives  ample  scope  for  persevering  re- 
search at  all  times." 

14.  "  The  integrating  principle  of  the  whole — the 
Spirit,  as  it  were,  of  the  Universe — must  be  something 
which,  while  holding  nearest  kinship  with  our  highest 
conception   of   disposing   power,   must   yet   be   im- 
measurably superior  to  the  psychism  of  man.     The 
world-eject  thus  becomes  invested  with  a  psychical 
value    as   greatly    transcending   in   magnitude    the 
human  mind  as  the  material  frame  of  the  universe 
transcends  in  its  magnitude  the  material  frame  of  the 
human  body." 

Indeed  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  processes  of 
heredity  are  non-material.  I  have  already  quoted 
from  Orton's  note  that  in  the  metamorphoses  of 
insects,  "  every  tissue  of  the  larva  disappears  before 
the  development  of  the  new  tissues  of  the  imago  is 
commenced.  The  organs  do  not  change  from  one 
into  another,  but  the  new  set  is  developed  out  of 
formless  matter."  There  are  neither  cells  nor  nuclei 
left,  there  is  no  type  or  pattern  to  build  on,  that  the 
eye  of  science  can  detect  or  suspect.  It  is,  so  far  as 
physical  appearance  goes,  a  creation  de  novo,  and 
certainly,  since  there  is  and  must  be  a  guiding 
principle  to  create  constant  forms  out  of  formless 
matter,  that  principle  cannot  be  one  of  form,  but 
of  that  which  acts  without  form — or,  as  Lamarck  says, 
"  independent  of  matter." 

But  there  is  other  evidence  in  overwhelming  mass  : 
the  well-known  birthmarks  imprinted  on  the  unborn 


230  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

offspring,  with  location,  form  and  obvious  design, 
from  a  prenatal  mental  shock  to  the  mother, 
are  entirely  inexplicable  on  any  physical  theory. 
There  is  no  possible  physiological  connection  from 
mother  to  foetus  which  could  locate,  at  a  specific  place, 
and  in  directive  relation,  upon  an  unborn  child,  the 
indelible  imprint,  with  the  hair,  shape,  jaws,  colour, 
legs,  tail,  etc.,  of  a  great  dog,  grasping  at  the  throat, 
and  sprawling  down  the  chest,  to  correspond  with  the 
similar  attack  of  a  real  dog,  of  like  breed,  and  also  of 
great  size  and  fury,  which  had  attacked  and  attempted 
to  throttle  the  mother,  until  dragged  off,  a  few  months 
before  the  birth  of  the  child,  then  in  foetal  life.  I 
have  had  such  a  case  in  my  practice,  in  a  woman  long 
grown-up,  and  so  marked  from  birth,  and  with  the 
history  which  I  have  narrated  from  the  mother.  In- 
deed, medical  history  is  full  of  such  instances,  and  of 
many  still  more  wonderful,  and  which  can  only  have  a 
psychical  interpretation.  I  refer  also  to  the  cases 
mentioned  by  Professor  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  an 
eminent  medical  authority,  in  the  Epistolary  Chapter 
(xvi.)  of  his  well-known  "  Elsie  Venner." 


CHAPTER   XXX 

SPIRITUALISM  PURSUES  THE  METHODS  OF  SCIENCE — 
SIR  WILLIAM  CROOKES*  PRESIDENTIAL  ADDRESS 
BEFORE  THE  BRITISH  ASSOCIATION 

THE  late  Professor  De  Morgan,  many  years  Professor 
of  Mathematics,  and  afterwards  Dean  of  University 
College,  London,  a  Cambridge  graduate,  where  he 
took  his  degree  as  fourth  wrangler,  who  studied  for 
the  bar,  and  was  a  voluminous  writer  on  mathematics, 
logic  and  biography  ;  who  was  for  eighteen  years 
secretary  to  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society,  and  was 
a  strong  and  influential  advocate  for  decimal  coinage, 
a  man  of  world-wide  celebrity  as  a  leader  of  scientific 
thought,  wrote,  in  1863,  in  the  preface  to  "  From 
Matter  to  Spirit,"  a  work  of  his  wife,  as  follows : — 

"  I  am  perfectly  convinced  that  I  have  both 
seen  and  heard  in  a  manner  which  should  make 
unbelief  impossible,  things  called  spiritual,  which 
cannot  be  taken  by  a  rational  being  to  be  capable 
of  explanation  by  imposture,  coincidence  or  mistake. 
So  far  I  feel  the  ground  firm  under  me.  But  when  it 
comes  to  what  is  the  cause  of  these  phenomena,  I  find 
I  cannot  adopt  any  explanation  which  has  yet  been 
suggested.  If  I  were  bound  to  choose  among  things 
which  I  can  conceive,  I  should  say  that  there  is  some 
combination  of  will,  intellect  and  physical  power, 
which  is  not  that  of  any  of  the  human  beings  present. 
But,  thinking  it  very  likely  that  the  universe  may 
contain  a  few  agencies — say  half-a-million — about 
which  no  man  knows  anything,  I  cannot  but  suspect 
that  a  small  proportion  of  these  agencies — say  five 
thousand — may  be  severally  competent  to  the  pro- 
duction of  all  the  phenomena,  or  may  be  quite  up  to 
the  task  among  them.  The  physical  explanations 

231 


232  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

which  I  have  seen  are  easy,  but  miserably  insufficient, 
the  spiritual  hypothesis  is  sufficient  but  ponderously 
difficult.  .  .  .  The  spiritualists,  beyond  a  doubt,  are 
in  the  track  that  has  led  to  all  advancement  in 
physical  science  :  their  opponents  are  the  representa- 
tives of  those  who  have  striven  against  progress.  .  .  . 
I  have  said  that  the  deluded  spirit-rappers  are  on  the 
right  track  :  they  have  the  spirit  and  method  of  the 
grand  time  when  those  paths  were  cut  through  the 
uncleared  forest  in  which  it  is  now  the  daily  routine 
to  walk.  What  was  that  spirit  ?  It  was  the  spirit 
of  universal  examination,  wholly  unchecked  by  fear 
of  being  detected  in  the  investigation  of  nonsense.  .  .  . 
Again,  the  spiritualists  have  taken  the  method  of 
the  old  time.  .  .  .  The  spiritualist  appeals  to  evi- 
dence :  he  may  have  enough  or  he  may  not  ;  but  he 
relies  on  what  he  has  seen  and  heard.  When  he 
assumes  that  there  is  a  world  of  spirits,  it  is  no  more 
than  all  nations  and  all  ages  have  assumed,  and  many 
on  alleged  records  of  actual  communication,  which  all 
who  think  him  a  fool  ought  to  laugh  at.  If  he  should 
take  the  concurrent  feeling  of  mankind  as  presumption 
in  favour  of  such  a  world — a  thing  which  may  be 
known — he  is  on  more  reasonable  ground  than  the 
opponent,  who  draws  its  impossibility — a  thing  which 
cannot  be  known— out  of  the  minds  of  a  very  small 
minority." 

Again  he  says,  "  The  rapping  spirits,  their  views, 
should  they  be  really  human  impostures,  are  very, 
very  singular.  In  spite  of  the  inconsistencies,  the 
eccentricities,  and  the  puerilities  which  some  of  them 
have  exhibited,  there  is  a  uniform  vein  of  description 
running  through  their  accounts  which,  supposing  it 
to  be  laid  down  by  a  combination  of  impostors,  is 
more  than  remarkable,  even  marvellous.  The  agree- 
ment is  one  part  of  the  wonder,  it  being  remembered 
that  the  mediums  are  scattered  through  the  world ; 
but  the  other  and  greater  part  of  it  is  that  the  im- 
postors, if  impostors  they  be,  have  combined  to  oppose 
all  the  current  ideas  of  a  future  state,  in  order  to  gain 
belief  in  the  genuineness  of  their  pretensions." 

Modern  spiritualism  has  never  ceased  to  advance, 


SPIRITUALISM  PURSUES   SCIENCE    233 

in  spite  of  a  persecution  as  rigorous  and  general  as 
many  of  those  physical  persecutions  of  old,  for 
opinion's  sake,  which  depopulated  provinces,  and 
slaughtered  millions. 

And  with  precisely  the  same  effect,  for  the  fires  of 
persecution  have  brought  hosts  of  new  investigators, 
as  persecution  of  the  truth  always  does.  Significant 
facts  are  appearing  in  every  direction,  which  prove 
that  a  great  movement  in  favour  of  spiritualism,  among 
the  learned,  the  trained,  and  the  men  of  science,  is 
now  under  way  with  an  irresistible  and  constantly 
increasing  momentum.  There  is  hardly  a  great 
institution  of  learning  in  Europe  or  America  which 
does  not  number  among  its  professors  and  teachers 
more  than  one,  and  often  many,  who  study,  teach 
and  demonstrate  the  principles  and  teachings  of  this 
philosophy.  Books  by  eminent  men  of  science  on 
this  subject  are  constantly  appearing,  and  the  correct 
scientific  principles,  which  regulate  the  investigations, 
are  everywhere  being  rigidly  applied,  and  with  telling 
effect. 

So  long  ago  as  1831  the  medical  section  of  the 
French  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  took  up  these 
questions,  as  related  to  the  proximate  and  remote 
phenomena  of  so-called  animal  magnetism,  and  the 
unanimous  report  as  published  of  the  eminent  experi- 
menters was  to  establish  the  truth  of  the  phenomena 
of  clairvoyance,  internal  prevision,  and  of  many 
psychological  facts,  utterly  at  variance  with  the 
hypothesis  of  Dr  Carpenter,  or  of  his  school. 

The  Dialectical  Society  of  London,  in  1872,  fully 
established  all  these  and  many  other  facts,  conclus- 
ively demonstrating  the  existence  of  an  extra-human 
intelligence,  capable  of  acting  on  physical  bodies  to 
produce  physical  results.  Concerning  this  body  of 
investigators,  one  of  its  most  eminent  members, 
Alfred  R.  Wallace,  the  contemporary  with  Darwin, 
in  his  work  on  evolution,  says  : 

"  Of  this  committee,  consisting  of  thirty-three 
acting  members,  only  eight  were,  at  the  commence- 
ment, believers  in  the  reality  of  the  phenomena,  while 
not  more  than  four  accepted  the  spiritual  theory. 


234  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

During  the  course  of  the  inquiry  (which  extended 
over  two  years),  at  least  twelve  of  the  complete 
sceptics  became  convinced  of  the  reality  of  many 
of  the  psychical  phenomena  through  attending  the 
experimental  subcommittees,  and  almost  wholly  by 
means  of  themediumshipof  members  of  the  committee. 
At  least  three  members  who  were  previously  sceptics 
pursued  their  investigations  outside  the  committee 
meetings,  and  in  consequence  have  become  thorough 
spiritualists.  My  own  observation,  as  a  member  of 
the  committee  and  of  the  largest  and  most  active 
subcommittee,  enables  me  to  state  that  the  degree  of 
conviction  produced  in  the  minds  of  the  various 
members  was,  allowing  for  marked  differences  of 
character,  approximately  proportionate  to  the 
amount  of  time  and  care  bestowed  on  the  investiga- 
tion. This  fact,  which  is  what  occurs  in  all  investiga- 
tions into  these  phenomena,  is  a  characteristic  result 
of  the  examination  into  any  natural  phenomena. 
The  examination  into  an  imposture  or  delusion  has 
invariably  exactly  opposite  results  ;  those  who  have 
slender  experience  being  deceived,  while  those  who 
perseveringly  continue  the  inquiry  inevitably  find 
out  the  source  of  the  deception  or  delusion." 

The  general  committee,  in  presenting  its  published 
report,  referred  to  the  "  high  character  and  great 
intelligence  of  many  of  the  witnesses  to  the  more 
extraordinary  facts,  the  extent  to  which  their  testi- 
mony is  supported  by  the  reports  of  the  subcommittee 
and  absence  of  any  proof  of  imposture  or  delusion  as 
regards  a  large  portion  of  the  phenomena  ;  and 
further,  having  regard  to  the  exceptional  character 
of  the  phenomena,  a  large  number  of  persons  in  every 
grade  of  society  and  over  the  whole  civilised  world 
who  are  more  or  less  influenced  by  a  belief  in  their 
supernatural  origin,  and  to  the  fact  that  no  philoso- 
phical explanation  of  them  has  yet  been  arrived  at, 
deem  it  incumbent  upon  them  to  state  their  con- 
viction that  the  subject  is  worthy  of  more  serious 
attention  and  careful  investigation  than  it  has 
hitherto  received." 

Ten  years  afterwards,  1882,  was  established  our 


SPIRITUALISM  PURSUES  SCIENCE    235 

great  London  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  which 
now  numbers  nearly  or  quite  twelve  hundred  living 
members,  among  whom  are  included  many  dignitaries 
of  the  church,  many  men  eminent  in  science  through- 
out the  world,  and  many  men  and  women  of  mark  and 
rank,  and  the  influence  of  the  society  has  extended 
so  as  to  receive  world-wide  recognition.  It  is  to-day 
one  of  the  great  intellectual  and  scientific  forces  of  the 
age.  Its  publications  and  proceedings  include  many 
volumes,  its  monthly  journal  goes  to  every  part  of 
the  world,  and  its  roll  of  officers  and  members  it 
would  be  impossible  to  duplicate  anywhere,  in  their 
importance  and  ability.  It  has  done,  and  is  doing, 
a  great  work  for  humanity  and  for  the  true  advance- 
ment of  science. 

To  show  the  vast  change  in  scientific  sentiment 
during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  concerning  these 
questions,  it  is  only  necessary  to  narrate  the  following 
record  of  facts. 

In  1871-1872  Professor  William  Crookes,  then  a 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  sent  two  papers  on  the 
subject  of  psychic  force  and  allied  phenomena  to  that 
institution  for  reading  and  publication .  These  papers 
were  both  thrown  out  by  the  Council  of  the  Society, 
and  the  papers,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  it  was  stated, 
were  returned  to  the  author. 

At  this  time  Professor  Crookes  was  already  eminent 
in  science  :  he  had  been  the  editor  of  The  Chemical 
News  since  1859,  when  it  was  founded  ;  was  editor 
of  The  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science  ;  the  discoverer 
of  the  metal  thallium  ;  a  high  authority  on  disen- 
fection  for  diseases  of  cattle,  in  which  the  sanitary  use 
of  carbolic  acid  was  first  popularised  ;  a  well-known 
scientific  writer  on  photography  ;  the  discoverer  of 
the  now  universally  employed  sodium  amalgamation 
process  in  gold  and  silver  metallurgy  ;  and  an  in- 
vestigator and  experimentalist  of  high  repute  in 
optics  and  polarised  light  •  the  practical  introducer 
of  spectroscopic  analysis  into  England  ;  the  con- 
structor of  the  spectrum  microscope,  and  the  polarisa- 
tion photometer  ;  a  practical  worker  in  astronomy 
for  twelve  months  at  the  Radcliffe  Observatory, 


236  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

Oxford,  in  planet-hunting,  transit-taking,  and 
celestial  photography ;  whose  lunar  photographs, 
for  years,  were  the  best  extant,  and  who  was  honoured 
by  the  Royal  Society  itself  by  a  money  grant  to  carry 
on  his  work  ;  who  was  one  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment's Eclipse  Expedition  to  Oran  ;  and  whose  in- 
ventions and  discoveries  in  the  intricate  phenomena 
of  electric-lighting  in  vacua  made  the  X-rays  possible, 
and  are  known  wherever  "  Crookes-tubes  "  are  known, 
and  in  radiant  energy  wherever  science  is  recog- 
nised. 

But,  in  entering  upon  the  ground  of  spiritualism, 
or  psychic  force,  he  at  once  put  himself  beyond  the 
pale,  and  was  not  only  ignominiously  rejected,  but 
was  scourged  and  humiliated,  and  made  to  "  point  a 
moral  and  adorn  a  tale,"  by  Dr  Carpenter  and  others, 
who  boastfully  proclaimed  his  rejection  in  their 
public  lectures,  while  The  Quarterly  Review  took  up 
and  carried  on  the  attack  in  what  Professor  Crookes 
calls  "  the  spiteful,  bad  old  style  which  formerly 
characterised  this  periodical." 

And  Dr  Huggins,  the  eminent  astronomer,  fell 
under  the  same  ban,  because  he  certified  as  a  witness 
to  some  of  the  phenomena,  and  he  was  indirectly 
stigmatised  as  a  brewer,  a  scientific  amateur,  one  of 
those  who  had  only  attached  himself  to  astronomy, 
and  was  treated,  in  fact,  just  as  all  advocates  for  a 
scientific  investigation  of  this  subject  have  been 
treated  by  the  bigoted  pseudo-physicists  and  their 
credulous  following  in  the  past. 

But,  undeterred  by  hostile  criticism,  the  experi- 
ments of  Professor  Crookes  went  on,  and  in  The 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Science  for  January  1874  he 
summarised  and  describedt  he  phenomena  which  he 
had  proven,  under  the  following  classes  : — 

1.  The  movement  of  heavy  bodies  with  contact 
but  without  mechanical  exertion. 

2.  The  phenomena  of  percussive  and  other  allied 
sounds. 

3.  The  alteration  of  weight  of  bodies. 

4.  Movements  of  heavy  substances  when  at  a 
distance  from  the  medium. 


SPIRITUALISM  PURSUES  SCIENCE     237 

5.  The  rising  of  tables  and  chairs  off  the  ground, 
without  contact  with  any  person. 

6.  The  levitation  of  human  beings. 

7.  Movement  of  various  small  articles  without 
contact  with  any  person. 

8.  Luminous  appearances. 

9.  The  appearance  of  hands,  either  self-luminous 
or  visible  by  ordinary  light. 

10.  Direct  writing. 

11.  Phantom  forms  and  faces. 

12.  Special  instances  which  seem  to  point  to  the 
agency  of  exterior  intelligences. 

13.  Miscellaneous     occurrences     of     a    complex 
character. 

During  all  the  intervening  years,  up  to  the  present 
time,  his  work  along  these  lines  has  proceeded,  and  the 
Royal  Society  itself  awarded  to  Dr  Huggins  the 
Copley  Gold  Medal,  and  the  Rumford  Medal  to  Pro- 
fessor, now  Sir  Oliver,  Lodge,  an  eminent  co-worker  in 
these  fields  with  Sir  William  Crookes  (for  the  British 
Government  had  now  bestowed  upon  Crookes  also 
this  new  title  and  dignity),  and  Sir  William  Crookes 
was  now  elected  President  of  the  British  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  the  most  august 
scientific  body  in  the  world,  and  he  concluded  his 
President's  Address,  at  the  68th  annual  meeting,  at 
Bristol,  7th  September  1898,  with  the  following  re- 
markable and  prophetic  words  : — 

'  To  stop  short  in  any  research  that  bids  fair  to 
widen  the  gates  of  knowledge — to  recoil  from  fear 
of  difficulty  or  adverse  criticism — is  to  bring  reproach 
on  Science.  There  is  nothing  for  the  investigator 
to  do  but  to  keep  straight  on,  'to  explore  up  and 
down,  inch  by  inch,  with  the  taper  of  his  reason '  ; 
to  follow  the  light  wherever  it  may  lead,  even  should 
it  at  times  resemble  a  will-o'-the-wisp.  I  have  no- 
thing to  retract.  I  adhere  to  my  already  published 
statements.  Indeed,  I  might  add  much  thereto.  I 
regret  only  a  certain  crudity  in  those  early  expositions 
which,  no  doubt  justly,  militated  against  their 
acceptance  by  the  scientific  world.  My  own  know- 
ledge at  the  time  scarcely  extended  beyond  the  fact 


238  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

that  certain  phenomena  new  to  science  had  assuredly 
occurred,  and  were  attested  by  my  own  sober  senses, 
and,  better  still,  by  automatic  record.  ...  I  think 
I  see  a  little  farther  now.  I  have  glimpses  of  some- 
thing like  coherence  among  the  strange  elusive 
phenomena  ;  of  something  like  continuity  between 
those  unexplained  forces  and  laws  already  known. 

"  This  advance  is  largely  due  to  the  labours  of 
another  association  of  which  I  have  also  this  year  the 
honour  to  be  the  president — the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research — and  were  I  now  introducing  for 
the  first  time  these  inquiries  to  the  world  of  science 
I  should  choose  a  starting  point  different  from  that  of 
old.  It  would  be  well  to  begin  with  telepathy,  with 
the  fundamental  law,  as  I  believe  it  to  be,  that 
thoughts  and  images  may  be  transferred  from  one 
mind  to  another  without  the  agency  of  the  recognised 
organs  of  sense — that  knowledge  may  enter  the  human 
mind  without  being  communicated  in  any  hitherto 
known  or  recognised  ways.  ...  A  formidable  range 
of  phenomena  must  be  scientifically  lifted  before  we 
effectually  grasp  a  faculty  so  strange,  so  bewildering, 
and  for  ages  so  inscrutable  as  the  direct  action  of 
mind  on  mind.  This  delicate  task  needs  a  rigorous 
employment  of  the  method  of  exclusion — a  constant 
setting  aside  of  irrelevant  phenomena  that  could  be 
explained  by  known  causes,  including  those  far  too 
familiar  causes,  conscious  and  unconscious  fraud. 
An  eminent  professor  in  this  chair  declared  that  '  by 
an  intellectual  necessity  he  crossed  the  boundary  of 
experimental  evidence,  and  discerned  in  that  matter, 
which  we  in  our  ignorance  of  its  latent  powers,  and 
notwithstanding  our  professed  reverence  for  its 
Creator,  have  hitherto  covered  with  opprobrium,  the 
potency  and  promise  of  all  terrestrial  life.'  I  should 
prefer  to  reverse  the  apothegm,  and  to  say  that  in 
life  I  see  the  promise  and  potency  of  all  forms  of 
matter. 

In  old  Egyptian  days  a  well-known  inscription 


was  carvedTover  the  portal  of  jhe  temple  oflsis  : 
*  I  am  whatever  hath  been,  is.  or  ever  will  be  ;  and 
my  veil  no  man  hath  yet  lifted.'  Not  thus  do  modern 


SPIRITUALISM  PURSUES  SCIENCE     239 

seekers  after  truth  confront  Nature — the  word  that 
stands  for  the  baffling  mysteries  of  the  universe — 
steadily,  unflinchingly,  we  strive  to  pierce  the  inmost 
heart  of  Nature,  from  what  she  is  to  reconstruct  what 
she  has  been,  and  to  prophesy  what  she  yet  shall  be. 
Veil  after  veil  we  have  lifted,  and  her  face  grows  more 
beautiful,  august  and  wonderful  with  every  barrier 
that  is  withdrawn." 


CHAPTER    XXXI 

THE  ONLY  SCIENTIFIC  BASIS  OF  EVOLUTION  IS  VOLITION 

I  HAVE  spoken  of  spiritualism,  in  this  book,  in  a 
broad  sense.  I  have  made  it,  in  its  larger  scope, 
coincident  with  a  universe  controlled  by  a  psychism  ; 
to  a  universe  in  which  the  only  force  we  know  or  can 
know  is  volition  ;  to  a  universe  in  which  law  and 
order,  development  and  harmony,  are  the  results  of  a 
law-maker  and  an  orderer,  a  developer  and  a  har- 
moniser  ;  and  in  which  we  human  beings,  as  even 
Herbert  Spencer  concedes,  are  endowed  with  the  same 
kindred  of  spiritual  powers  in  individualised  and 
specialised  form  as  the  great  psychism  from  which 
we  are  derived.  And  our  individualities  are  here 
under  probation  for  a  future  beyond  the  grave. 
What  are  called  spiritualistic  phenomena  may  be 
true,  probably  are  true,  if  religion  is  true  ;  for  these 
two  are  kindred.  But  if  spiritualistic  phenomena  are 
not  true,  only  because  it  is  impossible  that  they 
should  be  true,  then  of  a  surety  religion  itself  of  every 
cult  and  kind,  manhood,  womanhood,  honour, honesty, 
decency,  virtue,  chastity,  purity,  love,  justice,  truth, 
fidelity,  morality,  fatherhood,  motherhood  and 
brotherhood,  are  none  of  them  true. 

Romanes  has  told  us  in  pregnant  sentences,  in  his 
"  Candid  Examination  of  Religion,"  how  religion 
itself,  or  theology  rather,  had  thrown  away  its  God- 
given  charter,  which  is  that  God  is  not  only  the 
source,  but  the  life  and  movement  of  all  things,  and 
that  it  had  allied  itself  with  materialism,  in  granting 
natural  physical  causation — that  is,  a  non-intelligent 
causation,  and  yet  resulting  in  intelligent  order. 
"  No  one,"  he  says,  "  even  the  most  orthodox,  has 
as  yet  learnt  this  lesson  of  religion  to  anything  like 

240 


THE  BASIS   OF  EVOLUTION  241 

fulness.  God  is  still  grudged  His  own  universe,  so 
to  speak,  as  far  and  as  often  as  He  possibly  can  be.  ... 
It  is  still  assumed  on  both  sides  (that  is,  by  this 
theology  and  this  materialism),  that  there  must  be 
something  inexplicable  or  miraculous  about  a 
phenomenon  in  order  to  its  being  divine. 

"  What  else,"  he  says,  "  have  science  and  religion 
ever  had  to  fight  about,  save  on  the  basis  of  this 
common  hypothesis,  and  hence  as  to  whether  the 
causation  of  such  or  such  a  phenomenon  has  been 
'  natural '  or  '  supernatural '  ?  For  even  the  dis- 
putes as  to  science  contradicting  scripture  ultimately 
turn  on  the  assumption  of  inspiration  (supposing  it 
genuine)  being  '  supernatural '  as  to  its  causation. 
Once  grant  that  it  is  '  natural '  and  all  possible  ground 
of  dispute  is  removed. 

"  Only  because  we  are  so  familiar  with  the  great 
phenomenon  of  causality  do  we  take  it  for  granted, 
and  think  that  we  reach  an  ultimate  explanation  of 
anything  when  we  have  succeeded  in  finding  the 
'  cause '  thereof  :  when,  in  point  of  fact,"  he  says, 
"  we  have  only  succeeded  in  merging  it  into  the 
mystery  of  mysteries." 

Both  Romanes  and  Sir  John  Herschel,  and  most 
other  great  scientific  authorities,  agree  that  the  only 
known  force  and  known  cause  of  anything  is  volition, 
continuous,  ever-acting,  intelligent,  directive,  pur- 
posive and  impelling  volition. 

There  is  no  other  which  we  can  see,  know,  under- 
stand, or  of  which  we  can  conceive. 

With  this  divine  volition  conceded,  we  can  have, 
and  we  do  have,  as  all  can  see,  an  intelligent  plan, 
and  progression,  from  the  relatively  lower  to  the 
relatively  higher — an  intelligent  and  intelligible 
evolution  ;  without  it  there  is,  there  can  be,  no 
evolution  at  all,  for  "  evolution  "  is  the  evolving,  the 
out-turning,  of  the  scheme,  or  plan,  or  process,  which 
we  recognise  as  the  order  of  nature.  Without  such 
there  is  no  order.  But  only  disorder,  accidental 
jumblings  and  breakings-up,  as  well  go  backward  as 
forward  ;  that  things  proceed  in  an  orderly  and  com- 
prehensible manner  is  proof  absolute  that  they  pro- 


242  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

ceed  by  means  of  an  orderer,  and  that  this  orderer 
was,  and  is,  the  prior  comprehender ;  in  other  words 
there  is,  as  Lamarck  held,  an  intelligent  power  which 
transcends  nature,  which  was  before  nature,  and  is 
independent  of  nature,  and  controls  nature  to  do  its 
will — and  this  is  what  we  call  God  ;  he  may  pass  by 
many  names,  but,  if  he  have  these  qualifications,  then 
he  is  God  ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  have  not  these 
qualifications,  then,  though  he  be  called  God  in  a 
hundred  languages,  he  is  not  God.  And  with  such  a 
real  God  all  that  we  see  going  on  around  us,  and  much 
of  which  we  can  comprehend,  is  precisely  what  we 
ought  to  expect.  Through  all  the  world-process  is 
orderliness  and  advancement ;  and  we,  the  microcosm, 
can  follow  with  comprehending  eyes  the  macrocosm 
which  carries  all  things  along  with  it.  Outside  this, 
who  can  comprehend  or  feel  with  Longfellow's  aspir- 
ing youth,  with  his  flag  on  the  mountain  peak, 
"  Excelsior,"  and  the  dead  body  which  has  won  by 
its  losing ;  or  Olive  Schreiner's  dream-hero,  who, 
climbing  unending  mountains  for  truth,  at  last  saw, 
at  his  highest  ascent,  fluttering  down  to  him,  a  single 
feather  from  her  glorious  plumage,  and  there  died 
content  ? 

Be  sure  Professor  William  James  is  right  when  he 
says,  "  We  and  God  have  business  with  each  other.'* 
Here  is  a  little  Persian  Poem  from  Jalalu'd-Din,  a 
Sufi  poet,  who  wrote  seven  centuries  ago : 

"  I  died  from  rock  and  sand,  and  rose  a  plant, 

I  died  from  plant,  and  grew  a  living  breath, 
I  died  from  lower  flesh,  and  rose  a  man, 

Why  should  I  fear  ?     What  have  I  lost  by  death  ? 
When  next  I  die,  'twill  be  to  die  from  man, 

And  rise  on  angel  wings  to  higher  place, 
And  from  the  angel  still  shall  rise,  and  rise, 

'  For  all  shall  perish,  save  alone  His  face.' 
And  I  shall  wing  my  way  to  higher  spheres, 

And  transcend  all  I  here  can  know,  or  learn, 
Then  let  me  now  be  naught,  for  the  harp-string 

Crieth,  '  To  Him  indeed  we  shall  return.'  " 


PART   IV 


CHAPTER    XXXII 

REVIEW   OF   PARTS   I.,   II.,   AND   III. 

IN  the  first  and  second  parts  of  this  book  I  endeavoured 
to  show  that  religion  has  been  so  uniformly  found  in 
all  peoples,  of  all  times  and  places,  that  it  has  been 
substantially  universal  from  the  origin  of  man,  so 
that  it  conforms  to  the  criterion  of  Leibnitz,  which 
would  establish  it  as  a  universal,  eternal  and  im- 
mutable truth. 

Either  it  was  born  into  man  with  the  birth  of 
man,  or  was  at  once  implanted  by  spiritual  revelation, 
which  has  never  ceased  for  a  moment  anywhere,  from 
that  time  to  the  present  ;  and  never  will  until  time 
shall  have  completed  its  span  and  been  merged  into 
a  spiritualised  eternity. 

This  cognition  of  the  co-ordinated  presence  of  the 
individual  body,  the  individual  spirit,  the  spirit  of 
nature,  the  Spirit  of  the  Universe,  as  Romanes  named 
it,  is  so  intimate  and  inseparable  that  a  man  alto- 
gether devoid  of  religion,  if  there  be  such  a  man,  is 
not  a  whole  man,  but  is  either  deformed,  atrophied, 
blind  or  paralytic. 

I  have  shown,  by  the  highest  scientific  testimony, 
that  men  who  proclaim  their  atheism  or  materialism, 
and  believe  that  they  are  atheists  or  materialists,  are 
universally  miserable  at  heart,  that  they  are  feeding 
on  husks,  are  cramming  their  stomachs  with  highly- 
spiced  confectionery  instead  of  food,  while  in  their 
souls  they  crave  natural  food,  and  are  miserable  with- 
out it. 

I  have  endeavoured  to  show  that  the  basis  of  all 
religions  is  spiritualism,  and  that  spiritualism  is  not 
only  the  basis  but  the  test  of  religion,  and  that  religion 
can  only  exist  so  long  as  spiritualism  coexists  with  it. 

245 


246  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

I  have  cited  all  the  principal  religions  of  history, 
and  those  prehistoric  ones  which  have  cast  their  beams 
of  light  through  the  stone  age,  the  ages  of  bronze, 
iron,  steel,  and,  alas  !  gold,  up  to  our  highest  and 
latest  civilisations,  and  shown  that  they  could  all 
unite  with  their  fundamental  beliefs  in  the  same 
words,  and  used  in  the  same  sense. 

Turning  from  the  religions  of  other  peoples  to 
our  own,  I  have  shown  how  ancient  paganisms  had 
gradually  forced  art  into  their  service,  so  that  art 
itself  became  sacerdotal,  and  intertwined  with 
mythology,  and  its  beautiful  arms  were  so  entwined, 
by  centuries  of  pressure,  with  older  and  falser  accre- 
tions, that  when  Christianity  arose  in  its  strength, 
like  a  young  giant,  it  was  forced  to  crush  out  art  in 
crushing  paganism. 

But  I  endeavoured  to  show,  also,  that  when  the  full 
triumph  of  the  new  faith  had  come,  art  again  was 
welcomed,  as  God's  most  beautiful  gift  to  man,  and 
religion  and  art  again  went  hand  in  hand. 

So  too,  I  endeavoured  to  show  that  Christianity 
with  all  its  power,  and  in  the  day  of  its  world- 
conquering  dominion,  had  forced  spiritualism  into  a 
like  sacerdotal  bondage  to  the  church,  and  when  the 
great  revolt  of  the  sixteenth  century  came,  Protestant- 
ism, in  attacking  the  old  and  corrupt  accretions  of 
ecclesiastical  organisation,  was  compelled  to  crush 
spiritualism,  in  order  to  secure  its  own  position. 

Driven  perforce  from  the  divine  control  of  the 
church,  and  the  divine  preservation  of  the  Bible, 
driven  from  miracles,  from  the  supernormal  as  re- 
vealed in  the  promises  of  its  Founder,  it  was  compelled 
to  posit  an  ever-present  and  operative  Nature,  to  take 
the  place  of  an  ever-present  and  inworking  God. 

Natural  science,  new-born  as  it  was,  found  its 
vogue,  and  a  new  and  popular  ally,  in  this  theology 
without  Theos,  and  these  two  forces  clasped  hands  ; 
and  against  them,  for  centuries,  all  the  strength  of  a 
spiritual  religion  and  a  scientific  psychology  was  spent 
in  vain. 

"  Natural  Causation  "  became  the  god  of  both 
creeds,  and  the  only  difference  between  them  was  that 


REVIEW  OF  PARTS  I.,  II.,  AND  III.      247 

faith  (and  such  faith)  taught  one  wing  that  later  on 
(how,  or  when,  or  where,  or  why,  or  to  what  purpose, 
no  one  could  say,  for  the  occasion  then  must  have 
long  passed  by)  some  monstrous  form  would  come  out 
of  the  clouds,  whether  above  or  below,  or  from  one 
side,  with  the  blare  of  trumpets,  and  shout  of  the 
archangel,  and  separate  the  goats  from  the  sheep, 
and,  to  quote  Burns'  prayer, 

"  Send  ane  to  heaven  and  ten  to  hell, 
A'  for  thy  glory. M 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  that  whole  branch  of 
the  church  was  in  this  lamentable  state  ;  far  from  it. 
On  the  contrary  I  believe  that  the  vast  preponderance 
of  all  that  has  worked  for  man's  advancement,  and 
indeed  for  his  spiritual  enfranchisement  and  poten- 
tiality, has  been  due  to  just  this  and  like  popular 
movements. 

I  am  speaking  of  the  forbidding  rockbound  creeds 
and  "  confessions  "  which,  while  ever  present  and 
aggressive,  the  bulk  of  the  people  never  did  accept, 
and  never  could  accept,  but  which,  by  their  very 
presence  and  authority,  paralysed  the  power  of  the 
church  in  dealing  with  the  forms  and  forces  of 
materialism. 

I  said,  upon  one  occasion,  to  a  sweet-faced 
Presbyterian  lady  :  "  Could  you  sit  here  quietly  and 
listen  to  this  music,  and  enjoy  it,  if  you  knew  that 
your  mother  was  now  being  burned  alive  by  wicked 
people  next  door  ?  "  "  Heavens,  no  !  Why  do  you 
say  that  ?  "  "I  understand  that  you  had  a  brother 
whom  you  dearly  loved,  and  who  died  unconverted." 
After  a  pause,  "  I  will  trust  him,  and  all  mine,  to 
God,"  was  her  beautiful  reply. 

With  this  perverted  theology  and  baseless  em- 
piricism so  bound  up  together,  when  what  Romanes 
called  the  "  nearly  fatal  mistake  "  had  been  made, 
the  real  truth  and  significance  of  all  things  had  no 
chance  whatever ;  a  vague  and  shadowy  faith  was  left, 
but  it  was  a  baseless,  superstitious,  credulous  faith, 
against  the  code,  and  which  could  not  be  boldly  de- 
fended in  public,  but  could  only  be  wept  and  prayed 


248  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

over  in  private  ;  and  for  demonstration  of  the  eternal 
there  was  but  one  thing  left  to  do — to  wait. 

"  The  mills  of  God  grind  slowly, 
But  they  grind  exceeding  small." 

Time  was  needed  for  the  seed  to  be  sown,  and 
to  ripen  into  the  gleaming  harvest ;  time  for  new 
machines  to  be  discovered,  and  perfected  ;  for  new 
lines  of  investigation  to  be  carried  out ;  for  whole 
new  sciences  to  be  created  ;  for,  by  the  power  of  mind 
over  matter,  God  proposed  to  destroy  the  power  of 
matter  over  mind. 

The  time  has  come  at  last,  and  empiricism  and 
materialism  are  retreating,  and  divine  volition  and 
spiritualism  are  advancing,  with  giant  sweeps.  And 
this  time  they  come  to  stay  ;  everything  else  has  been 
tried  and  failed,  even  during  this  weary  time  of  wait- 
ing, and  a  reawakened  psychology,  with  new  weapons 
and  new  facts  is  now  coming,  with 

"  Banners  yellow,  glorious,  golden," 

full-armed  and  full-panoplied,  and  the  sky  is  all  alight 
with  their  approach. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII 

TESTIMONY  OF  ABLE  AUTHORITIES,  IN  LETTERS  TO  THE 
DIALECTICAL  SOCIETY,  IN  FAVOUR  OF  THE  TRUTH 
AND  IMPORTANCE  OF  SPIRITUAL  PHENOMENA 

I  HAVE  spoken  much  of  spiritualism  in  the  preceding 
chapters  ;  I  have  spoken  of  the  broad  spiritualism  of 
the  universe ;  of  the  cosmical  spiritualism  of  telepathy, 
thought-transference,  prevision  and  clairvoyance  ;  of 
the  individual  spiritualism  of  the  working  mind  and 
instinct ;  of  the  primordial,  earthly  spiritualism  of 
the  lowest  forms  of  life  ;  of  the  spiritualism  of  the 
subconscious  department  of  the  mind,  especially  of 
the  human  mind,  and  of  genius,  invention,  inspiration 
and  other  forms  of  what  the  ancient  Chinese  named 
"  ling  "  ;  and  also  of  the  phenomena  of  mediumship. 
Broadly  speaking,  we  are  all  mediums,  just  as  we  are 
all  poets,  or  farmers,  or  soldiers,  but  partially  un- 
developed ones  ;'  for  the  specialists  in  these  lines  are 
both  born  with  the  power  and  developed  by  its  use. 
This  latter  form  of  spiritualism,  mediumship,  is  that 
which  can  be  best  and  most  easily  investigated,  which 
most  certainly  leads  us  to  the  knowledge  of  higher 
planes  of  the  supernormal,  and  it  is  the  co-worker  and 
supporter  of  religion,  by  giving  certainty  to  our  sur- 
vival after  death,  which  is  the  basis  of  all  religions  ; 
and,  with  some  reluctance,  I  feel  that  I  ought  to 
say  something  of  my  own  personal  studies  in  this 
field. 

Referring  again  to  the  London  Dialectical  Society, 
there  were  many  eminent  men  who  wrote  letters  to 
the  Dialectical  Society,  from  which  I  will  make  very 
brief  extracts,  prefatory  to  my  own  observations. 

George  H.  Lewes  wrote  :  '*  When  any  man  says 
that  phenomena  are  produced  by  no  known  physical 
249 


250  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

laws,  he  declares  he  knows  the  laws  by  which  they 
are  produced." 

The  converse,  of  course,  is  equally  applicable  : 
"  When  any  man  says  that  certain  phenomena  are 
not  produced  by  any  laws,  he  declares  that  he  knows 
all  the  laws  by  which  phenomena  are  produced." 

Dr  J.  G.  Davey,  M.D.,  of  Bristol,  wrote,  regarding 
his  investigations,  that  they  "  have  not  only  removed 
whatever  doubts  did  once  belong  to  me,  but  have 
convinced  me  of  many  great  and  solemn  truths  in 
regard  to  the  future  of  man  which,  anterior  to  1862, 
were  altogether  ignored  by  me,  and  deemed  scarcely 
worthy  of  the  nursery." 

Dr  J.  J.  Garth  Wilkinson  wrote  :  "  I  have  been  a 
believer  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  its  nearness  to  the 
natural  world,  nearly  all  my  life.  And  the  rareness 
of  communication  between  the  two  is  to  me  one  of  the 
greatest  of  miracles  ;  a  proof  of  the  economic  wisdom, 
the  supreme  management,  the  extraordinary  states- 
manship, of  the  Almighty." 

Mr  Newton  Crossland,  of  Lynton  Lodge,  Vanburgh 
Park  Road,  Blackheath,  wrote :  "  The  facts  of 
spiritualism  are  to  me  as  certain  and  indisputable 
as  those  of  the  multiplication  table." 

Edwin  Arnold  (afterwards  Sir  Edwin  Arnold), 
M.A.,  wrote :  "  The  statement  to  which  I  am  prepared 
to  attach  my  name  is  this :  that  conjoined  with  the 
rubbish  of  much  ignorance  and  some  deplorable  folly 
and  fraud,  there  is  a  body  of  well-established  facts 
beyond  denial  and  outside  any  existing  philosophical 
explanation,  which  facts  promise  to  open  a  new  world 
of  human  inquiry  and  experience,  are  in  the  highest 
degree  interesting,  and  tend  to  elevate  ideas  of  the 
continuity  of  life,  and  to  reconcile,  perhaps,  the 
materialist  and  metaphysician." 

Mr  J.  Hawkins  Simpson,  who  experimented  with 
Mr  Home,  mentions  a  case  of  crystal  vision  which 
illustrates  what  I  shall  say  later  on  regarding  the 
simultaneous  appearance  in  the  crystal  apparently, 
of  the  same  apparently  objective  view,  by  a  number 
of  persons  looking  at  the  same  time  into  the  crystal. 
He  says  :  "  When  I  tell  you  that  a  large  landscape 


TESTIMONY  OF  ABLE  AUTHORITIES    251 

view,as  carried  in  my  brain,  was  made  perfectly  visible 
in  the  spherical  crystal  to  everyone  in  a  dark  room, 
although  the  individuals  composing  the  party  occupied 
opposite  places  to  each  other,  and  no  one,  except 
Mr  Home,  who  held  the  crystal,  was  within  three 
feet  of  the  crystal ;  you  will  admit  that  a  field  of 
inquiry  is  here  opened  up  which  would  yield  results 
increasing  our  knowledge  of  mental  action,  etc., 
etc. " 

Miss  A.  Goodrich-Freer  of  the  S.P.R.,  in  her  ex- 
cellent "  Essays  in  Psychical  Research,"  cites  a  case 
in  which  she  and  a  friend  went  to  the  new  gallery  to 
see  the  "  shew-stone  "  which  Kelley,  the  Scryer,  used, 
hundreds  of  years  ago,  and  which  was  kept  in  a  glass 
case.  They  both  gazed  into  it  simultaneously,  as, 
says  the  author,  "  We  were  particularly  anxious  to 
achieve  a  collective  vision."  At  her  home  was  an 
old  hand-organ,  which  would  not  play.  After  the 
ladies  had  left  home  for  this  visit,  a  friend  dropped 
in  accidentally,  and,  with  a  brother  then  there,  fixed 
it  up  and  set  it  going,  a  most  unexpected  and  totally 
unknown  circumstance.  Says  Miss  Freer :  "  In  the 
crystal  we  both  saw  the  following  scene  : — we  saw 
them  sitting  at  opposite  sides  of  the  fireplace  in  the 
room  where  it  was  kept,  but  while  I,  in  my  picture, 
so  to  speak,  faced  the  right,  my  friend  faced  the 
left." 

This,  and  many  other  instances,  seem  to  show  that 
the  vision  is  not  merely  a  replica  of  a  visualised  idea 
in  the  clairvoyant's  mind.  It  is  as  though  the  object 
was  under  inspection,  and  subject  to  the  usual  laws  of 
position  and  perspective,  for  each  separate  "  gazer." 

Mr  Hockley,  a  witness  who  gave  his  testimony 
concerning  crystal  gazing  to  the  Dialectical  Society 
(see  Report  pp.i84-i87),furnishes  a  number  of  unusual 
cases, having  collected,he  says,  more  than  twelve  thou- 
sand answers  to  questions,  and  his  testimony  is  corro- 
borated by  like  facts  from  other  sources.  Mr  Hockley 
says  that,  "  on  one  occasion,  a  man  appeared  in  the 
small  crystal  with  a  book  before  him,  and  she  saw  it 
was  splendidly  done  but  too  small  to  read.  I  gave 
her  a  powerful  reading-glass,  and  she  could  then  read 


252  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

it,  for  the  glass  increased  the  size."  At  the  Earl  of 
Stanhope's  request  he  obtained  for  Lieutenant 
(Captain)  Burton,  a  crystal  and  a  black  mirror,  which 
Burton  afterwards  used  in  the  East.  This  witness 
never  could  see  anything  in  a  crystal  himself,  but 
relied  on  what  the  visualiser  told  him,  but  he  appeared 
to  have  used  very  scientific  tests,  as  his  examination 
by  the  committee  shows. 

John  Tyndall  wrote  the  Dialectical  Society  very 
courteously,  but  stated  that  Mr  Cromwell  Varley,  a 
well-known  spiritualist,  paid  him  a  visit,  and  told 
him,  says  Mr  Tyndall,  "  that  my  presence  at  a  seance 
resembled  that  of  a  great  magnet  among  a  number  of 
smaller  ones.  I  throw  all  into  confusion." 

Such  personalities,  outside  of  mere  conscious 
antagonism,  are  not  uncommonly  met  with.  They 
are  usually  those  "  too  much  immersed  in  merely 
physical  research,"  or  those  others,  to  whom  Romanes 
refers,  as  made  consciously  miserable  by  feeding  on 
the  husks  of  materialism,  until  they  have  been  bound 
down  thereby,  and  have  lost  what  Professor  James 
calls  "  the  will  to  believe." 

Belief  is  something  to  be  earned  ;  as  Romanes 
says,  unbelief  is  usually  due  to  indolence,  often  to 
prejudice,  and  never  a  thing  to  be  proud  of  ;  doubt 
may  be  scientific,  pending  investigation,  but  denial 
on  an  a  priori  never. 

Dr  William  B.  Carpenter  wrote  :  "There  are  cer- 
tain phenomena  which  are  quite  genuine,  and  must 
be  considered  as  fair  subjects  of  scientific  study.  My 
inquiries  have  led  me  to  the  conclusion,  however, 
that  the  source  of  these  phenomena  does  not  lie  in  any 
communication  ab  extra,  but  that  they  depend  upon 
the  subjective  condition  of  the  individual  which 
operates  according  to  certain  recognised  physiological 
laws." 

To  this  letter  he  appended  an  abstract  in  support 
of  his  "  recognition  "  of  these  "  physiological  laws," 
covering  more  than  ten  printed  pages,  in  which  not 
one  experiment  is  reported  bearing  on  these  subjects 
but  in  which  philosophical  speculation  takes  the  part 
of  practical  study,  which  latter,  and  not  the  former, 


TESTIMONY  OF  ABLE  AUTHORITIES    253 

was  the  sole  object  of  the  existence  of  the  Dialectical 
Society.  His  explanation  was  his  well-known 
"  Unconscious  Cerebration,"  which,  as  a  complete 
explanation,  as  all  men  of  science  now  know,  stops 
short  where  psychology  commences,  simply  because 
it  runs,  like  all  materialistic  conceptions,  into  an 
impasse  in  both  directions. 

Mr  T.  Adolphus  Trollope  wrote  a  very  interesting 
letter  from  Florence,  where  he  then  resided.  He  says  : 
"  In  short,  the  result  of  my  experience  thus  far  is  this, 
that  the  physical  phenomena  frequently  produced 
are,  in  many  cases,  not  the  result  of  any  sleight  of  hand, 
and  that  those  who  have  witnessed  them  with  due 
attention  must  be  convinced  that  there  is  no  analogy 
between  them  and  the  tricks  of  professed  '  conjurors.' 
I  may  also  mention  that  Bosco,  one  of  the  greatest 
professors  of  legerdemain  ever  known,  in  a  conversa- 
tion with  me  upon  the  subject,  utterly  scouted  the 
idea  of  the  possibility  of  such  phenomena  as  I  saw 
produced  by  Mr  Home  being  performed  by  any  of  the 
resources  of  his  art." 

Bosco's  testimony  is  that  of  all  the  great 
"  magicians,"  Houdin,  and  those  of  like  eminence, 
and  1  have  personal  knowledge  of  a  very  apropos  case 
in  which  one  of  the  greatest  of  our  living  "  magicians  " 
was  interested.  A  personal  friend  of  mine,  a  physician 
of  high  standing,  a  member  of  the  Seybert  Commission 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  (which  was  so 
badly  mismanaged,  by  the  way,  but  which  got  Mr 
Seybert's  sixty  thousand  dollar  legacy  nevertheless), 
had  this  eminent  magician,  some  years  ago,as  a  patient. 

The  gentleman  consulted  my  friend  about  certain 
inexplicable  phenomena  which  had  manifested  them- 
selves to  him  almost  nightly,  while  in  bed.  A  ticking, 
or  very  light  tapping,  at  intervals,  and  in  denned 
groups,  on  the  head,  the  footboard,  or  elsewhere  on 
the  bed.  In  response  to  questions,  he  received  in- 
telligent answers  in  all  cases.  I  do  not  know  that  the 
replies  were  of  any  special  significance  or  importance, 
but  they  were  beyond  the  magician's  power  to  account 
for,  and  they  annoyed  or  disturbed  him  in  conse- 
quence. I  presume  that  he  could  have  repeated  them 


254  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

on  the  stage  before  an  audience,  but  I  do  not  think 
that  they  would  have  seemed  the  same  to  him  as  they 
did  in  the  silence  of  the  night,  and  under  the  circum- 
stances encountered  by  himself.  In  fact,  he  told  the 
doctor  that  "  they  were  inexplicable,"  which  seems 
to  prove  this  fact. 

Mr  Trollope  was  not  a  spiritualist.  Long  after- 
wards, in  his  book  of  reminiscences,  "What  I  Remem- 
ber," he  says :  "I  have  spoken  at  length  in  my  former 
volume  of  the  various  '  spiritualistic '  or  table- 
moving  experiences,  which  I  have  met  with  at  various 
times  :  I  gave,  I  think,  upon  the  whole,  a  rather 
unfavourable  impression  of  the  genuineness  of  the 
phenomena  I  recorded.  I  think  it  honest  therefore 
to  mention  here  a  record  taken  from  my  diary  at  a 
much  later  date,  which  seems  to  afford  evidence  in 
the  other  direction." 

In  this  experiment  he  confined  himself  to  numbers, 
asked  for  mentally.  "  Numbers  of  questions  were 
asked,  with  the  result  that  some  rather  startling 
replies  were  elicited.  But  as  all  this  was  liable  to 
more  or  less  of  doubt,  to  the  possibility  of  trickery, 
and  the  probability  of  misunderstanding,  I  asked  if 
the  '  spirit '  would  name  a  number  I  should  think  of, 
which  was  accordingly  promised.  I  thought  of  five, 
and  that  number  was  at  once,  and  without  any  tenta- 
tive guesses,  correctly  given.  I  tried  again,  but  care- 
lessly removed  my  hands  from  the  table,  and  was 
answered  wrong.  I  then  replaced  my  hands  on  the 
table,  thought  of  another  number,  which  was  at  once 
correctly  given.  Some  others  of  the  party  then  tried 
the  same  experiment,  and  stated  that  the  number 
they  had  thought  of  had  been  correctly  named.  On 
a  subsequent  occasion,  the  result  (barring  one  mistake) 
was  exactly  similar." 

From  personal  experience  I  can  say  that  the  re- 
moving of  the  hands  after  a  question  has  been  asked, 
and  before  it  has  been  answered,  seems  to  produce 
a  feeling  of  disgust  on  the  part  of  the  manipulating 
agency,  just  as  if  one  should  ask  someone  in  company 
a  question,  and  then  turn  away  before  listening  for  the 
reply.  Only  a  few  days  ago,  I  asked  one  of  the  sitters 


TESTIMONY  OF  ABLE  AUTHORITIES     255 

at  the  table  to  reach  for  a  pencil,  and  wrote  down  the 
answer  to  what  I  had  just  asked,  which  was  the 
orthography  of  an  unknown  name  then  being  given. 
The  result  was  that  it  took  about  ten  minutes  to  woo 
back  the  offended  mechanician,  although  he  had  been 
working  the  table,  before  the  interruption,  like  a  saw- 
mill, bump,  bump,  bump  (yes),  bump  (no),  bump, 
bump,  bump ;  bump-bump-bump ;  bump-bump- 
bump  ;  bump,  etc. 

It  is  just  as  common  an  experience  for  a  table  to 
answer  mental  questions  as  spoken  ones;  in  fact, 
they  are  only  spoken,  in  general,  to  keep  up  the  inter- 
est of  the  others  present. 

Mrs  Laetitia  Lewis  wrote  the  Dialectical  Society : 
"  I  must  inform  you  that  I  am  not  a  medium  and  had 
no  belief  in  spirits  till  I  became  convinced  almost 
against  my  will.  Whilst  residing  at  my  home  in 
South  Wales  during  the  spring  of  the  present  year 
(1870),  most  wonderful  spiritual  manifestations 
occurred  spontaneously  to  myself  and  daughter." 
She  appends  a  private  letter  to  a  near  relative,  a 
clergyman  in  the  Church  of  England,  describing  these 
phenomena.  These  were  in  the  nature  of  rappings, 
poltergeist  phenomena,  and  automatic  writing, 
largely  relating  to  a  lost  will,  and  which  nearly  scared 
the  daughter  to  death. 

I  need  hardly  refer  the  reader  to  the  published 
records  of  the  well-known  experiments  of  Sir  William 
Crookes,  and  especially  to  his  most  fascinating  nar- 
ratives of  his  materialising  experiments,  in  his  own 
house,  with  Katie  King,  and  particularly  to  his  last 
interview  and  final  parting  with  this  materialised 
visitant  from  the  past,  while  the  medium  lay  silent 
and  unconscious  by  her  side,  or  distant  from  her,  but 
visible  in  another  room. 

Surely,  in  view  of  the  experiences  narrated  by 
others,  it  is  not  only  a  right  but  a  duty,  in  the  cause  of 
science,  to  dispassionately  describe  examples  of  such 
phenomena  as  have  manifested  themselves  to  us, 
of  an  apparently  supernormal  character,  and  thus 
advance  our  knowledge  of  the  "  character,  faculties, 
extent,  sources  and  departments,  and  the  connections 


256  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

of  the  human  mind,  by  thoroughly  practical  and 
scientific  methods." 

In  the  cases  which  I  have  cited  in  this  volume  I 
have  endeavoured  to  use  them  only  for  illustration, 
and  to  avoid  the  startling  ;  and  I  should  hesitate  to 
present  this  narrative  of  Sir  William  Crookes,  en- 
titled, "  The  Last  of  Katie  King,"  to  an  inexperienced 
public,  were  it  not  that  the  distinguished  author  was 
himself  the  experimenter  ;  that  every  scientific  pre- 
caution was  taken  with  the  fifteen-year-old  medium, 
domiciled  in  his  own  house,  and  with  his  family, 
where  the  experiments  took  place  ;  that  he  wrote 
down  the  narrative  with  his  own  hand  ;  and  that  so 
recently  as  September  1898  he  declared,  to  the  most 
eminent  scientific  audience  possible  to  be  assembled, 
that,  referring  to  his  own  work,  along  these  lines  and 
to  his  own  records  of  the  same — 

"  I  have  nothing  to  retract.  I  adhere  to  my 
already  published  statements.  Indeed  I  might  add 
much  thereto." 

And  in  this  Presidential  Address,  before  the  British 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  he  clearly 
set  forth  the  only  possible  way  in  which  science  can 
be  advanced.  The  scientific  world  has  been  the 
beneficiary  of  his  teaching,  for  during  the  few  inter- 
vening years  its  whole  status  has  been  changed. 

The  narrative  of  Sir  William  Crookes  of  the  last 
appearance  of  the  materialised  form  of  "  Katie  King  " 
is  contained  in  his  book  entitled,  "  Researches  in  the 
Phenomena  of  Spiritualism,"  reprinted  from  The 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Science^  and  it  is  most  pathetic 
as  well  as  instructive,  as  it  is  told.  The  following  is 
the  narrative : — 

"  During  the  week  before  Katie  took  her  depar- 
ture she  gave  seances  at  my  house  almost  nightly, 
to  enable  me  to  photograph  her  by  artificial  light. 
Five  complete  sets  of  photographic  apparatus  were 
accordingly  fitted  up  for  the  purpose,  consisting  of 
five  cameras,  one  of  the  whole-plate  size,  one  half- 
plate, one  quarter-plate,  and  two  binocular  stereoscopic 
cameras,  which  were  all  brought  to  bear  upon  Katie 
at  the  same  time  on  each  occasion  on  which  she 


TESTIMONY  OF  ABLE  AUTHORITIES      257 

stood  for  her  portrait.  Five  sensitising  and  fixing 
baths  were  used,  and  plenty  of  plates  were  cleaned 
ready  for  use  in  advance,  so  that  there  might  be  no 
hitch  or  delay  during  the  photographing  operations, 
which  were  performed  by  myself,  aided  by  one 
assistant. 

"  My  library  was  used  as  a  dark  cabinet.  It  has 
folding  doors  opening  into  the  laboratory  ;  one  of 
these  doors  was  taken  off  its  hinges,  and  a  curtain 
suspended  in  its  place  to  enable  Katie  to  pass  in  and 
out  easily.  Those  of  our  friends  who  were  present 
were  seated  in  the  laboratory  facing  the  curtain,  and 
the  cameras  were  placed  a  little  behind  them,  ready 
to  photograph  Katie  when  she  came  outside,  and  to 
photograph  anything  also  inside  the  cabinet,  when- 
ever the  curtain  was  withdrawn  for  the  purpose. 
Each  evening  there  were  three  or  four  exposures  of 
plates  in  the  five  cameras,  giving  at  least  fifteen 
separate  pictures  at  each  seance  ;  some  of  these  were 
spoilt  in  the  developing,  and  some  in  regulating  the 
amount  of  light.  Altogether  I  have  forty-four 
negatives,  some  inferior,  some  indifferent,  and  some 
excellent. 

"  Katie  instructed  all  the  sitters  but  myself  to  keep 
their  seats  and  to  keep  conditions,  but  for  some  time 
past  she  has  given  me  permission  to  do  what  I  liked — 
to  touch  her,  and  to  enter  and  leave  the  cabinet 
almost  whenever  I  pleased.  I  have  frequently 
followed  her  into  the  cabinet,  and  have  sometimes 
seen  her  and  the  medium  together,  but  most  generally 
I  have  found  nobody  but  the  entranced  medium  lying 
on  the  floor,  Katie  and  her  white  robes  having 
instantaneously  disappeared." 

"  During  the  last  six  months  Miss  Cook  has  been  a 
frequent  visitor  at  my  house,  remaining  sometimes 
a  week  at  a  time.  She  brings  nothing  with  her  but  a 
little  hand-bag,  not  locked ;  during  the  day  she  is 
constantly  in  the  presence  of  Mrs  Crookes,  myself,  or 
some  member  of  my  family,  and,  not  sleeping  by 
herself,  there  is  absolutely  no  opportunity  for  any 
preparation,  even  of  a  less  elaborate  character  than 
would  be  required  for  enacting  Katie  King.  I 


258  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

prepare  and  arrange  my  library  myself  as  the  dark 
cabinet,  and  usually,  after  Miss  Cook  has  been  dining 
and  conversing  with  us  and  scarcely  out  of  our  sight 
for  a  minute,  she  walks  direct  into  the  cabinet,  and  I, 
at  her  request,  lock  its  second  door,  and  keep  pos- 
session of  the  key  all  through  the  seance  ;  the  gas  is 
then  turned  out,  and  Miss  Cook  is  left  in  darkness. 

"  On  entering  the  cabinet  Miss  Cook  lies  down 
upon  the  floor,  with  her  head  on  a  pillow,  and  is  soon 
entranced.  During  the  photographic  seances,  Katie 
muffled  her  medium's  head  up  in  a  shawl  to  prevent 
the  light  falling  upon  her  face.  I  frequently  drew  the 
curtain  on  one  side  when  Katie  was  standing  near, 
and  it  was  a  common  thing  for  the  seven  or  eight  of  us 
in  the  laboratory  to  see  Miss  Cook  and  Katie  at  the 
same  time,  under  the  full  blaze  of  the  electric  light. 
We  did  not  on  these  occasions  actually  see  the  face 
of  the  medium  because  of  the  shawl,  but  we  saw  her 
hands  and  feet ;  we  saw  her  move  uneasily  under  the 
influence  of  the  intense  light,  and  we  heard  her  moan 
occasionally.  I  have  one  photograph  of  the  two 
together,  but  Katie  is  seated  in  front  of  Miss  Cook's 
head. 

"  During  the  time  I  have  taken  an  active  part  in 
these  seances  Katie's  confidence  in  me  gradually  grew, 
until  she  refused  to  give  a  seance  unless  I  took  charge 
of  the  arrangements.  She  said  she  always  wanted 
me  to  keep  close  to  her,  and  near  the  cabinet,  and  I 
found  that  after  this  confidence  was  established,  and 
she  was  satisfied  that  I  would  not  break  any  promise 
I  might  make  to  her,  the  phenomena  increased 
greatly  in  power  ;  and  tests  were  freely  given  that 
would  have  been  unobtainable  had  I  approached 
the  subject  in  another  manner.  She  often  consulted 
me  about  persons  present  at  the  seancesy  and  where 
they  should  be  placed,  for  of  late  she  had  become 
very  nervous,  in  consequence  of  certain  ill-advised 
suggestions  that  force  should  be  employed  as  an 
adjunct  to  more  scientific  modes  of  research." 

"  One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  pictures  is 
one  in  which  I  am  standing  by  the  side  of  Katie  ; 
she  has  her  bare  feet  upon  a  particular  part  of  the 


TESTIMONY  OF  ABLE  AUTHORITIES     259 

floor.  Afterwards  I  dressed  Miss  Cook  like  Katie, 
placed  her  and  myself  in  exactly  the  same  position, 
and  we  were  photographed  by  the  same  cameras, 
placed  exactly  as  in  the  other  experiment,  and  illumin- 
ated by  the  same  light.  When  these  two  pictures  are 
placed  over  each  other,  the  two  photographs  of  my- 
self coincide  exactly  as  regards  stature,  etc.,  but  Katie 
is  half  a  head  taller  than  Miss  Cook,  and  looks  a  big 
woman  in  comparison  with  her.  In  the  breadth 
of  her  face,  in  many  of  the  pictures,  she  differs 
essentially  in  size  from  her  medium,  and  the  photo- 
graphs show  several  other  points  of  difference. 

"  Having  seen  so  much  of  Katie  lately,  when  she 
has  been  illuminated  by  the  electric  light,  I  am 
enabled  to  add  to  the  points  of  difference  between  her 
and  her  medium  which  I  mentioned  in  a  former 
article.  I  have  the  most  absolute  certainty  that  Miss 
Cook  and  Katie  are  two  separate  individuals  so  far 
as  their  bodies  are  concerned.  Several  little  marks 
on  Miss  Cook's  face  are  absent  on  Katie's ;  Miss  Cook's 
hair  is  so  dark  a  brown  as  almost  to  appear  black  ;  a 
lock  of  Katie's  which  is  now  before  me,  and  which  she 
allowed  me  to  cut  from  her  luxuriant  tresses,  having 
first  traced  it  up  to  the  scalp  and  satisfied  myself  that 
it  actually  grew  there,  is  a  rich  golden  auburn. 

"  On  one  evening  I  timed  Katie's  pulse.  It  beat 
steadily  at  75,  while  Miss  Cook's  pulse  a  little  time 
after  was  going  at  its  usual  rate  of  90.  On  applying 
my  ear  to  Katie's  chest  I  could  hear  a  heart  beating 
rhythmically  inside  ;  and  pulsating  even  more  steadily 
than  did  Miss  Cook's  heart  when  she  allowed  me  to  try 
a  similar  experiment  after  the  seance.  Tested  in  the 
same  way  Katie's  lungs  were  found  to  be  sounder  than 
her  medium's,  for  at  the  time  I  tried  my  experiment 
Miss  Cook  was  under  medical  treatment  for  a  severe 
cough. 

'  When  the  time  came  for  Katie  to  take  her  fare- 
well I  asked  that  she  would  let  me  see  the  last  of  her. 
Accordingly  when  she  had  called  each  of  the  company 
up  to  her  and  had  spoken  to  them  a  few  words  in 
private,  she  gave  some  general  directions  for  the  future 
guidance  and  protection  of  Miss  Cook.  From  these, 


260  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

which  were  taken  down  in  shorthand,  I  quote  the 
following : — '  Mr  Crookes  has  done  very  well,  through- 
out, and  I  leave  Florrie  with  the  greatest  confidence 
in  his  hands,  feeling  perfectly  sure  he  will  not  abuse 
the  trust  I  place  in  him.  He  can  act  in  any  emergency 
better  than  I  can  myself,  for  he  has  more  strength.' 
Having  concluded  her  directions,  Katie  invited  me 
into  the  cabinet  with  her,  and  allowed  me  to  remain 
there  to  the  end. 

"  After  closing  the  curtain  she  conversed  with  me 
for  some  time,  and  then  walked  across  the  room  to 
where  Miss  Cook  was  lying  senseless  on  the  floor. 
Stooping  over  her,  Katie  touched  her,  and  said, 
'  Wake  up,  Florrie,  wake  up  !  I  must  leave  you  now.' 
Miss  Cook  then  woke  and  tearfully  entreated  Katie  to 
stay  a  little  time  longer.  '  My  dear,  I  can't ;  my 
work  is  done.  God  bless  you,'  Katie  replied,  and 
then  continued  speaking  to  Miss  Cook.  For  several 
minutes  the  two  were  conversing  with  each  other,  till 
at  last  Miss  Cook's  tears  prevented  her  speaking. 
Following  Katie's  instructions,  I  then  came  forward 
to  support  Miss  Cook,  who  was  falling  to  the  floor, 
sobbing  hysterically.  I  looked  round,  but  the  white- 
robed  Katie  had  gone.  As  soon  as  Miss  Cook  was 
sufficiently  calmed,  a  light  was  procured  and  I  led  her 
out  of  the  cabinet." 

With  reference  to  the  photographs  described  in 
the  above  narrative  (of  which  I  am  the  possessor  of 
one),  it  should  be  noted  that  these  are  photographs 
of  a  visible  and  tangible  form.  But  there  are  other 
spirit-photographs,  of  which  I  feel  that  I  should  say 
something,  because  popular  ignorance  has  here  left 
an  open  door  for  scepticism  and  denial,  instead  of  for 
research  and  evidence .  In  regard  to  these  phenomena, 
as  with  reference  to  "  miracles,"  in  a  previous  chapter, 
I  am  not  called  upon  to  assert  the  actuality  of  such 
photographs  which  reveal  upon  the  plate,  and  the 
prints  therefrom,  forms  and  faces  which  were  in- 
visible and  intangible,  and  which  in  many  cases  are 
identifiable  as  portraits  of  loved  ones  now  dead.  If 
I  can  show  the  scientific  status  of  these  phenomena, 
and  that  they  are  scientifically  possible,  then  my 


TESTIMONY  OF  ABLE  AUTHORITIES     261 

work  here  will  have  been  accomplished,  for  after  that 
it  will  only  be  a  matter  for  evidence,  and  not  for 
a  'priori  denial.  j 

I  have  many  such  alleged  spirit-photographs,  and 
many  of  these  are  subject  to  suspicion,  and  some  to 
rejection.  I  know  all  about  double-exposures,  de- 
fective developments  and  professional  trickery  ;  but 
we  find  these  everywhere,  and  still  we  have  courts 
and  juries  and  judges,  and  all  that  faith  and  trust 
which  mark  civilisation,  and  even  barbaric  peoples, 
and  lower  animals.  Utter  and  universal  scepticism 
is  practical  nihilism  and  intellectual  suicide.  I  have 
one  of  these  photographs,  however,  which  has  a 
history  precluding  any  falsehood  except  the  judg- 
ment of  an  observer  as  to  what  the  picture  itself  shows. 
A  close  friend  of  mine  and  his  wife,  both  members  of 
the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  about  ten  years 
ago  purchased  a  residence  near  by,  and  moved  in — 
husband,  wife,  daughter  and  young  lady  cousin,  com- 
prising the  family.  The  ladies  were  amateur  photo- 
graphers, and  a  few  days  afterwards  they  took  a 
picture,  among  many  others,  of  the  new  parlour,  in 
which  the  former  mantel  and  mirrors  still  remained. 

On  developing  the  negative,  in  addition  to  the 
forms  and  furniture  normally  photographed,  near  one 
corner  was  apparently  a  standing  figure  of  a  young 
woman,  semi-transparent  in  parts  to  a  picture  frame 
behind.  It  was  a  puzzle  to  these  people,  and  was 
blamed  on  the  developing  fluid,  but  this  has  been 
denied  by  skilled  photographers  who  have  examined 
the  print. 

To  me,  when  I  saw  it  first,  a  few  days  afterwards, 
I  marked  but  did  not  mention  what  I  observed,  for 
"  spook  houses  "  are  not  desirable  properties  as  a  rule. 

This  figure  was  costumed  in  the  garb  prevalent 
here  from  about  1859  to  1865 — that  is,  during  the 
period  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  when  things  were 
much  less  rigid  than  in  later  and  more  peaceful  times. 
She  had  the  netted  "  waterfall "  for  the  hair,  the 
white-fur-bordered  close  sacque,  and,  in  fact,  as  she 
stood  in  a  half-back  view,  she  was  the  very  picture  of 
the  girls  which  I  knew  at  that  period,  but  which  my 


262  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

friends  knew  nothing  of,  as  they  had  not  then  been 
born. 

I  had  moved  into  the  neighbourhood  in  1868,  and 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  war,  which  closed  in  1865, 
this  fine  old  residence  had  been  used  for  quite  other 
purposes,  and  there  was  a  tradition  of  the  tragical 
death  of  a  young  girl  in  this  house  about  1863  or 
1865.  The  circumstances  I  did  not  know,  and  it  was 
not  then  well  to  inquire  about,  but  such  were  the 
facts.  I  do  not  say  that  this  picture  represents  that 
girl,  or  anybody  ;  I  do  not  say  that  it  was  not  a  bad 
flaw  of  the  developing  fluid  ;  I  only  say  that  some- 
thing came  on  that  plate  which  was  not  seen  before- 
hand, and  was  never  seen,  nor  anything  like  it,  in 
that  room  afterwards,  and  the  character  was  such  as 
was  recognisable  by  me. 

But  I  am  interested  in  showing  that  invisible  and 
intangible  objects  can  be  and  often  are  photographed, 
and  quite  as  clearly  and  conspicuously  as  "  crude 
matter."  In  fact,  if  we  depended  on  the  visible  and 
tangible  we  could  not  photograph  at  all. 

Who  does  not  know  of  the  mirage,  in  which  beauti- 
ful scenes,  lakes,  and  the  like,  appear  in  the  distance 
real  enough  to  carry  conviction  to  anyone  ?  I  have 
seen  these  both  in  northern  and  tropical  regions,  and 
they  can  be  photographed,  and  often  have  been,  yet 
here  we  look  upon  a  plate  or  print  itself  composed  of 
physical  matter,  chemical  compounds,  and  yet  these 
portray  merely  ethereal  light  playing  upon  invisible 
strata  of  an  invisible  atmosphere. 

Marmery,  in  his  "  Progress  of  Science  "  (London, 
1895),  says:  "The  one  result  which  surpasses  all  others 
in  importance,  and  adds  immensely  to  our  knowledge 
of  the  elementary  forces  which  govern  the  universe, 
is  the  ascertaining  that  atomic  energy  as  shown  by 
Crookes,  Thomson  (Lord  Kelvin),  and  Tesla,  is 
millions  of  times  greater  and  more  powerful  than  any 
with  which  we  are  acquainted."  So  Professor  Knott, 
of  Edinburgh  University,  in  his  "  Physics  "  (1897), 
says  of  sound : 

"  The  ear  is  sensitive  to  impulses  only  when  these 
come  faster  than  20  or  30  times  a  second,  and  more 


TESTIMONY  OF  ABLE  AUTHORITIES   263 

slowly  than  about  70,000  times  a  second.  The  limits 
vary  a  good  deal  with  different  ears,  some  are  sensitive 
to  high  shrill  sounds,  when  others  hear  nothing."  I  have 
italicised  the  part  which  dogmatism  denies.  It  is 
well  known  that  many  lower  forms  of  life,  certain 
insects  and  lower,  hear  sounds  which  are  to  us 
altogether  inaudible  ;  and  we  know  how  the 
microphone  will  so  translate  and  emphasise 
inaudible  sounds  that  the  step  of  a  housefly's 
foot  will  sound  like  the  crack  of  a  bat  against  a 
baseball. 

We  know  too  that,  in  the  phenomena  of  light, 
when  we  set  a  bar  of  iron  into  low  red  incandescence, 
it  will  send  only  red  rays  by  oscillations  of  the 
adjacent  ether,  and,  as  it  glows  to  full  incandescence, 
it  will  send  the  whole  solar  spectrum.  But  we  cannot 
see  it  all.  There  is  an  invisible  spectrum  far  beyond 
the  visible,  and  far  more  extensive,  and  this  will  im- 
press a  photographic  plate  as  strongly  as  the  visible 
part.  If  one  paints  on  a  sheet  of  white  paper  a 
portrait  or  scene  with  a  solution  of  a  salt  of  quinine, 
when  it  dries,  the  sheet  of  paper  will  be  as  white  as 
it  was  before.  But  if  placed  before  a  camera  it  will 
photograph  this  invisible  portrait  or  scene  with  all  the 
force  and  vigour  of  a  man  or  a  landscape  if  these  were 
as  physical  as  all  brute  creation. 

Nor  does  light  stop  at  this.  If  we  paint  a  picture 
on  a  sheet  of  paper  with  an  anhydrous  paint  of  many 
of  the  sulphides,  say  calcium  sulphide,  and  expose  it 
to  sunlight,  the  ethereal  waves  of  light  will  set  up 
such  a  commotion  in  the  chemical  coating  that  all 
night  long  the  picture  will  glow  with  all  the  force  and 
fire  of  the  original,  but  in  total  darkness. 

Further  along,  in  Chapter  XLIIL,  I  have  dealt 
with  the  ether  as  a  motive  force,  and  an  intelligently 
controlled  medium  ;  but  it  may  be  here  said  that, 
if  normally  invisible  and  intangible  spirits  exist  (and 
surely  all  religious  people  so  believe,  and  most  of 
those  also  who  do  not  claim  to  be  religious,  all  those 
in  fact  who  believe  in  a  future  life,  which,  as  I  have 
elsewhere  shown,  comprise  substantially  all  people  of 
all  races  and  in  every  age),  then  if  these  spirits  are 


264  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

anything  at  all  they  must  be  something,  and  if  they 
are  ethereal  then  they  occupy  and  are  part  of  that 
which  is  immeasurably  the  most  dynamic  and  the 
most  capable  of  doing  photographic  work  in  all  the 
realm  of  nature. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV 

CARLYLE  ON  MIRACLES — EVIDENCE  BY  CHRISTIAN  CON- 
VERTS OF  THE  REALITY  OF  SUPERNORMAL  MANI- 
FESTATIONS OF  ESKIMO  AND  OTHER  PSYCHICS 

I  HAVE  frequently  been  asked  to  give  examples  of  such 
apparently  spiritualistic,  and  certainly  supernormal, 
phenomena,  as  I  have  spoken  of  in  these  chapters. 
There  seems  to  be  a  general,  but  quite  unnecessary, 
ignorance  or  misunderstanding  concerning  these 
very  common  experiments.  I  have  usually  quoted 
from  recent  scientific  authorities  in  support  of  my 
views,  but  I  will  make  a  brief  extract  here  from  one 
who  has  influenced  mankind  as  largely,  perhaps,  from 
the  supernormal  side,  as  any  during  recent  years — I 
refer  to  Thomas  Carlyle.  In  his  "  Sartor  Resartus  "  he 
says: 

"Deep  has  been,  and  is,  the  significance  of  Miracles, 
far  deeper  perhaps  than  we  imagine.  Meanwhile,  the 
question  of  questions  were  :  What  specially  is  a 
miracle  ?  To  that  Dutch  King  of  Siam,  an  icicle  had 
been  a  miracle  ;  whoso  had  carried  with  him  an  air- 
pump,  and  vial  of  vitriolic  ether,  might  have  worked  a 
miracle.  To  my  Horse,  again,  who  unhappily  is  still 
more  unscientific,  do  not  I  work  a  miracle,  and 
magical  '  Open  Sesame  ! '  every  time  I  please  to  pay 
twopence,  and  open  for  him  an  impassable  or  shut 
turnpike  ? 

" '  But  is  not  a  real  miracle  simply  a  violation  of  the 
Laws  of  Nature  ?  '  ask  several.  Whom  I  answer  by 
this  new  question :  '  What  are  the  Laws  of  Nature  ? ' 
To  me  perhaps  the  raising  of  one  from  the  dead 
were  no  violation  of  these  laws,  but  a  confirma- 
tion ;  were  some  far  deeper  law,  now  first  pene- 
trated into,  and  by  Spiritual  Force,  even  as  the  rest 
365 


266  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

have  all  been  brought  to  bear  on  us  with  its  Material 
Force. 

"  Here  too  may  some  inquire,  not  without  aston- 
ishment :  '  On  what  ground  shall  one,  that  can  make 
Iron  swim,  come  and  declare  that  thenceforth  he  can 
teach  Religion '  ?  To  us,  truly,  of  the  Nineteenth 
Century,  such  declaration  were  inept  enough  ;  which, 
nevertheless,  to  our  fathers,  of  the  First  Century,  was 
full  of  meaning. 

"  But '  is  it  not  the  deepest  Law  of  Nature  that  she 
be  constant  ?  '  cries  an  illuminated  class  :  '  Is  not 
the  Machine  of  the  Universe  fixed  to  move  by  un- 
alterable rules  ?  '  Probable  enough,  good  friends  : 
Nay,  I,  too,  must  believe  that  the  God  whom  ancient 
inspired  men  assert  to  be  '  without  variableness  or 
shadow  of  turning  '  does  indeed  never  change  ;  that 
Nature,  that  the  Universe,  which  no  one  whom  it  so 
pleases  can  be  prevented  from  calling  a  machine, 
does  move  by  the  most  unalterable  rules.  And  now 
of  you,  too,  I  make  the  old  inquiry  :  What  those  same 
unalterable  rules,  forming  the  complete  Statute-Book 
of  Nature,  may  possibly  be. 

"  They  stand  written  in  our  Works  of  Science,  say 
you;  in  the  accumulated  records  of  Man's  Experience. 
Was  man  with  his  experience  present  at  the  Creation, 
then,  to  see  how  it  all  went  on  ?  Have  any  deepest 
scientific  individuals  yet  dived  down  to  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Universe,  and  gauged  everything  there  ? 
Did  the  Maker  take  them  into  His  counsel ;  that  they 
read  His  ground-plan  of  the  incomprehensible  All ; 
and  can  say  '  This  stands  marked  therein,  and  no 
more  than  this '  ?  Alas,  not  in  anywise  !  These 
scientific  individuals  have  been  nowhere  but  where 
we  also  are  ;  have  seen  some  hand-breadths  deeper 
than  we  see  into  the  Deep  that  is  infinite,  without 
bottom  as  without  shore. 

"  Custom  doth  make  dotards  of  us  all !  What 
is  Philosophy  throughout  but  a  continual  battle 
against  Custom ;  an  ever-renewed  effort  to  tran- 
scend the  sphere  of  blind  Custom,  and  so  become 
Transcendental." 

In  narrating  any  events  of  more  or  less  interest, 


CARLYLE  ON  MIRACLES  267 

as  I  shall  do,  all  these  will  be  found  to  be  of  types  well 
known  to  psychological  investigators,  and  to  those 
who  deal  with  the  phenomena  of  comparative  re- 
ligion. While  there  always  will  be,  to  the  sceptic, 
and  probably  ought  to  be,  a  doubt  of  the  accuracy  of 
reported  phenomena,  it  may  be  in  place  to  say  that 
such  manifestations  among  heathen  people,  occurring 
in  their  own  experience,  have  in  general  been  main- 
tained to  have  been  genuine  after  these  mediums  or 
psychics  have  been  converted  and  baptised  as 
Christians,  and  were,  for  the  rest  of  their  lives,  lead- 
ing Christian  lives.  In  Nevius'  "  Demon  Possession," 
(a  clerical  misnomer),  his  Chinese  records  are  full  of 
these  cases,  and  Sahagun  and  other  early  writers 
on  the  Mexican  and  Central  American  religions  con- 
firm such  statements  almost  universally.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  Red  Indians,  and,  in  fact,  the  rule  is  that 
converts  maintain  the  genuineness  of  the  phenomena. 
In  the  missionary  accounts  given  by  Captain 
J.  F.  Dennett,  R.N.,  cited  elsewhere,  an  apparition 
of  a  boy's  mother,  while  the  boy  was  playing  near  her 
grave,  not  only  appeared,  and  physically  held  him, 
but  spoke  and  prophesied  that  he  would  come  to 
strange  people,  who  would  instruct  him  in  the 
knowledge  of  Him  who  created  heaven  and  earth, 
etc.,  and  was  related  by  the  boy  himself  to  a  mis- 
sionary after  his  baptism,  and  confirmed  by  many 
others. 

The  missionary  account  states  of  these  phenomena 
that  while  coarse  imposture  was  made  apparent  in 
many  instances,  and  though  the  majority  of  their 
Angekoks  are  doubtlessly  mere  jugglers,  "  the  class 
includes  a  few  people  of  real  talent  and  penetration, 
and  perhaps  a  greater  number  of  phantasts,  whose 
understanding  has  been  subverted  by  the  influence 
of  some  impression  strongly  working  on  their  fervid 
imagination." 

Again:  "  So  much  is  certain  that  Angekoks  who 
have  laid  aside  their  profession  in  the  waters  of 
baptism,  while  they  acknowledge  that  the  main  part 
is  a  tissue  of  fraud  and  imposture,  are  steadfast  in 
asserting  that  there  is  an  interference  of  some  super- 


268  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

natural  agency  ;   something  which  they  now  abhor, 
but  are  unable  to  describe." 

One  of  their  mystical  practices,  one  form  of 
crystal  vision,  which  is  now  universally  acknow- 
ledged even  in  the  Bible,  to  be  a  means  of  ^working 
through  the  subconscious,  cannot  be  attributed  to 
imposture.  In  case  an  Eskimo  out  in  his  kayak  is 
missing,  which  is  not  uncommon,  a  tub  of  water  is 
procured,  and  shaded  by  the  person  inquiring.  The 
Angekok  then  looks  into  the  water,  "  and  there  they 
behold  the  absentee  either  overturned  in  his  kayak, 
or  rowing  in  his  erect  posture,"  thus  indicating  the 
fate  of  the  absent  one. 

The  narratives  which  follow  are  not  startling,  nor 
are  they  intended  to  be.  They  are  mostly  unpublished, 
and  principally  the  result  of  investigations  by  members 
of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research.  My  object  is 
to  commence  with  the  simpler  phenomena  of  mere 
telepathy  or  thought-transference,  and  then  lead  up 
to  more  complicated  phenomena,  in  which  apparently 
the  normal  explanations  possible  in  the  simpler  cases 
successively  fall  away,  and  must  be  replaced  by  new 
experiences,  necessarily  more  and  more  difficult  of 
explanation  on  what,  at  present,  would  be  considered 
a  normal  basis.  For  I  do  not  by  any  means  grant 
that  any  of  these  phenomena,  in  fact  any  phenomena 
of  nature,  are  really  supernormal,  and  I  use  the  term 
merely  in  the  sense  that  most  of  us  use  the  words 
"extraordinary,"  "surprising,"  "astonishing," 
"  wonderful,"  "  remarkable,"  and  the  like — such 
phrases  shading  off,  as  we  rise  in  the  intellectual  scale, 
to  "  beautiful,"  "  illuminating,"  "  satisfying,"  "  re- 
vealing," etc.,  and  as  we  sink  in  the  intellectual  scale, 
to  "  miraculous,"  "  incredible,"  "  nonsense,"  "  gross 
superstition,"  "fraud,"  "lies,"  "bosh,"  "chatter," 
and  the  like. 

And  when  all  other  explanation  fails,  as  it  has  so 
often  failed,  there  still  remains  the  long-derided,  but 
lately  accepted  telepathy,  and  hypnotism,  or  its  con- 
geners, suggestion  and  magnetism.  Quoting  from 
a  late  book  dealing  with  the  Cornwall  fisheries, 
"  Magnetism,  my  dear,"  said  the  vicar,  "  if  there's 


CARLYLE  ON  MIRACLES  269 

anything  you  don't  understand  in  human  actions,  call 
it  magnetism.  It  takes  you  a  long  way,  and  com- 
promises nobody  and  nothing." 

But  in  science  there  is  no  "  compromise,"  and 
psychology  is  now  taking  both  science  and  ourselves 
"  a  long  way." 


CHAPTER   XXXV 

PRACTICAL      CASES      CONTINUED — CRYSTAL     VISION — 
CLAIRVOYANCE — TRANSFERRED  MENTAL  POWER 

ALLIED  to  the  phenomena  of  thought  transference, 
though  often  comprehending  far  more  than  mere 
thought  transference,  is  crystal  vision.  This  is  first 
mentioned  in  the  Bible  in  connection  with  the  story 
of  Joseph  in  Egypt,  in  which  it  is  said  of  the  cup,  "  Is 
not  this  it  in  which  my  lord  drinketh,  and  whereby 
he  indeed  divineth  ?  "  The  verb  has  the  sense  of 
"  accustomed  to  divine,"  and  the  word  translated 
"  divine  "  has  elsewhere  the  sense  of  divining  or  fore- 
telling by  supernatural  means.  This  divining  by 
water  in  vessels  is  common  all  over  the  world,  as  one 
of  the  methods  of  crystal  vision  ;  I  have  elsewhere 
referred  to  its  use  among  the  Eskimo.  I  will  cite  two 
examples,  published,  it  is  true,  but  in  books  not 
popularly  known,  and  having  high  authority  behind 
them. 

Among  the  early  Pennsylvanian  pioneers  was  one 
who  afterwards  became  "  Colonel  James  Smith," 
and  who  spent  several  years  of  his  early  life  a  captive 
among  the  Indians  in  Eastern  Ohio,  by  whom  he  was 
adopted.  He  afterwards  wrote  the  narrative  of  his 
life  and  travels  among  the  Indians.  Of  this  writer 
President  Roosevelt  says,  in  his  ' '  Winning  of  the 
West,"  "  Smith  is  our  best  contemporary  authority  on 
Indian  warfare  ;  he  lived  with  them  for  several  years, 
and  fought  them  in  many  campaigns." 

His  memoir  was  published  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  in 
1799,  afterwards  by  J.  Pritts,  and  published  in  his 
"  Border  Life,"  at  Abington,  Va.,  in  1849,  and  at 
Chambersburg,  Pa. 

A  party  of  sugar-makers  went  up  to  the  head- 

270 


PRACTICAL  CASES  CONTINUED        271 

waters  of  Big  Beaver  Creek,  to  make  maple  sugar. 
There  were  a  number  of  squaws  along.  It  was  not  a 
war  party.  The  snow  still  lay  lightly  on  the  ground. 
Across  the  creek  was  a  country  occupied  at  times  by 
the  Mohawks,  who  were  hostile. 

One  night  a  squaw,  outside  her  tent  for  some 
purpose,  raised  an  alarm  ;  "  she  said  she  saw  two 
men  with  guns  in  their  hands,  upon  the  bank  on  the 
other  side  of  the  creek,  spying  our  tents,  they  were 
supposed  to  be  Johnson's  Mohawks." 

Great  alarm  prevailed,  and  the  squaws  were 
ordered  to  slip  quietly  out  some  distance  into  the 
bushes  and  hide  themselves,  and  all  the  men  with  guns 
or  bows  were  to  squat  in  the  bushes  near  the  tents, 
and,  "  as  the  enemy  rushed  up  we  were  to  give  them 
the  first  fire,  and  let  the  squaws  have  an  opportunity 
of  escaping." 

There  was  a  very  old  conjurer,  of  another  tribe, 
with  the  party,  so  old  that  he  was  bedridden,  and 
had  to  be  carried  on  a  litter.  "  He  was  a  professed 
worshipper  of  the  devil,"  says  the  author. 

The  men  carried  Manetohcoa,  the  conjurer,  at  his 
request,  to  the  now  vacant  fire,  in  a  tent,  and  gave 
him  his  conjuring  tools,  among  which  was  the  shoulder- 
blade  bone  of  a  wild  cat,  and  Manetohcoa,  says  the 
author,  "  was  in  a  tent  at  the  fire,  conjuring  away  to 
the  utmost  of  his  ability." 

The  situation  was  dramatic  enough,  in  those  dark 
woods. 

The  narrative  proceeds  :  "At  length  he  called 
aloud  for  us  to  come  in,  which  was  quickly  obeyed. 
When  we  came  in,  he  told  us  that  after  he  had  gone 
through  the  whole  of  his  ceremony,  and  expected  to 
see  a  number  of  Mohawks  on  the  flat  bone  when  it 
was  warmed  at  the  fire,  the  pictures  of  two  wolves 
only  appeared.  He  said,  though  there  were  no 
Mohawks  about  we  must  not  be  angry  with  the  squaw 
for  giving  a  false  alarm  ;  as  she  had  occasion  to  go  out, 
and  happened  to  see  the  wolves  ;  though  it  was  moon- 
light, yet  she  got  afraid,  and  she  conceived  it  was 
Indians  with  guns  in  their  hands  ;  so  he  said  we  might 
all  go  to  sleep,  for  there  was  no  danger,  and  accordingly 


272  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

we  did.  The  next  morning  we  went  to  the  place,  and 
found  wolf  tracks,  and  where  they  had  scratched  with 
their  feet  like  dogs  ;  but  there  was  no  sign  of  mocassin 
tracks." 

Ihe  shoulder-blade  of  an  animal  is  a  well-known 
.device  for  crystal  gazing. 


The  significant  part  of  this  narrative  is  the  im- 
mediate result  of  the  old  conjurer's  experiment — all 
hands  returned,  and  went  quietly  to  sleep.  This  im- 
plies a  large  experience  of  the  validity  of  these 
practices  among  them.  The  author  says,  "  this 
appeared  to  me  the  most  like  witchcraft  of  anything 
I  beheld  while  among  them." 

Of  course,  standing  by  itself,  it  would  not  have  so 
much  validity,  but  it  is  directly  in  line  with  the  well- 
known  phenomena  of  crystal  vision,  which  is  well 
known,  and  has  been  practised  in  all  parts  of  the  world 
from  times  immemorial,  and  which  is  found  in  vogue 
in  prehistoric  America  from  Terra  del  Fuego  to  the 
Arctic  Ocean. 

The  next  citation  I  shall  make  is  from  the  nine- 
teenth volume  of  the  United  States  Government  report 
of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  in  which  one  large 
volume  is  devoted  to  the  myths  of  the  Cherokees,  in 
south-western  North  Carolina.  The  work,  one  of 
several,  is  by  James  Mooney,  one  of  the  best  and  most 
reliable  authors  who  has  ever  written  on  these  subjects 
and  who  worked  from  his  own  original  studies  on  the 
ground,  assisted  by  a  large  corps  of  other 
authorities. 

In  his  "  Notes  and  Parallels  "  to  the  body  of  the 
work,  he  comments  on  crystal  vision  among  these 
peoples  as  described  in  earlier  portions  of  the  volume. 
My  purpose  in  introducing  this  incident  is  that  it 
illustrates  the  fact  that  the  visions  seen  in  the  crystal 
are  not  merely  subjective  on  the  part  of  the  operator, 
but  are  visible,  in  certain  cases,  to  observers,  standing 
by.  The  crystal  employed  was  of  quartz,  with  a  red 
streak  of  the  mineral  rutile  down  its  centre. 

The  incident,  devoid  of  context,  is  as  follows: 
"  Many  of  the  East  Cherokees  who  enlisted  in  the 
Confederate  service,  during  the  late  war,  consulted 


PRACTICAL  CASES  CONTINUED        273 

the  Ulunsuti  (Crystal)  before  starting,  and  survivors 
declare  that  their  experiences  verified  the  prediction. 
One  of  these  had  gone  with  two  others  to  consult  the 
fates.  The  conjurer,  placing  the  three  men  facing 
him,  took  the  talisman  upon  the  endof  his  outstretched 
finger,  and  bade  them  look  intently  into  it.  After 
some  moments  they  saw  their  own  images  at  the 
bottom  of  the  crystal.  The  images  gradually 
ascended  along  the  red  line.  Those  of  the  other  two 
men  rose  to  the  middle,  and  then  again  descended, 
but  the  presentment  of  the  one  who  tells  the  story 
continued  to  ascend  until  it  reached  the  top  before 
going  down  again.  The  conjurer  then  said  that  the 
other  two  would  die  in  the  second  year  of  the  war ; 
but  the  third  would  survive  through  hardships  and 
narrow  escapes,  and  live  to  return  home.  As  the 
prophecy,  so  the  event." 

Crystal  vision  was  one  of  the  bases  of  the  Aztec 
faith,  and  Tescatlipoca,  their  chief  divinity,  was  pre- 
eminently the  god  of  crystal  vision. 

Among  the  Mayas  the  art  was  not  only  practised 
from  the  earliest  ages,  but  is  still  in  universal  use 
throughout  Yucatan  to  this  day. 

Daniel  G.  Brinton,  the  anthropologist,  in  his 
"  Essays  of  an  Americanist,"  fully  describes  the 
practice,  saying  :  "  There  is  scarcely  a  village  in 
Yucatan  without  one  of  these  wonderful  stones." 

Vice-Admiral  Brine,  in  his  "  American  Indians  " 
(1894),  quotes  the  official  report,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  last  century,  to  the  Spanish  Government  of 
Mexico,  regarding  this  practice.  A  medical  friend 
now  here  attending  one  of  our  colleges,  from  Merida, 
tells  me  that  the  zaztun  (clear  stone)  is  continually 
consulted  all  through  Yucatan,  not  only  by  the 
natives,  but  by  others. 

The  same  practice  prevailed  in  prehistoric  Peru, 
even  among  the  Incas,  and  by  the  savages  also  of 
Southern  Chile  ;  the  Apaches  of  New  Mexico  and 
Arizona  also  used  it. 

It  is  not  a  difficult  or  unusual  art  to  acquire.  A. 
Goodrich-Freer,  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research, 
in  her  "  Essays  in  Psychical  Research,"  relates  that, 


274  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

in  one  of  the  eastern  counties  of  England,  she  came 
across  a  little  colony  of  half-a-dozen  or  more  who  had 
made  themselves  adepts  in  this  art,  having  started  it 
almost  accidentally.  She  says :  "  These  people  had 
no  outside  knowledge,  or  encouragement,  or  help 
whatever,  yet  they  have  developed  the  art  of  scrying 
in  all  its  branches — the  externalisation  of  conscious 
ideas  or  images,  or  revivals  of  memory,  and  of  in- 
formation unconsciously  acquired  by  thought  trans- 
ference, possibly  by  clairvoyance.  So  much  for  the 
reward  of  taking  pains." 

I  will  now  refer  to  a  more  personal  incident,  which 
is  unpublished.  A  brother  physician  in  this  city,  a 
member  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  had 
a  brother  killed  at  the  battle  of  Antietam,in  September 
1862.  After  his  death  the  bullet  was  secured,  and  the 
doctor  had  a  little  morocco  case  made,  and  some- 
times carried  it  as  a  sort  of  relic.  Two  or  three  years 
ago,  as  most  of  us  psychical  researchers  do,  he 
dropped  in  upon  a  well-known  medium,  who  was  in 
Philadelphia  for  a  few  days.  They  were  entire 
strangers  to  each  other.  After  giving  the  doctor  such 
information  as  she  chanced  to  have,  in  which  the 
doctor's  dead  brother  purported  to  appear  and  identify 
himself,  just  as  he  was  leaving,  in  reply  to  a  question 
of  the  doctor's,  she  said,  "  You  have  something  about 
you  in  your  pocket  in  a  leather  case  ;  it  is  round  ;  it 
is  hard ;  Eph.  says  it's  his  bullet."  The  dead 
brother's  name  was  Ephraim.  Possibly  this  was 
telepathic,  but  it  was  dramatically  put,  at  all  events, 
and  the  doctor  had  forgotten  all  about  the  circum- 
stance, when  the  medium  turned  it  up.  In  fact,  if 
properly  understood,  telepathy,  which  science  is  now 
conceding,  concedes  the  entire  foundations  of 
spiritualism  as  against  any  possible  form  of  material- 
ism. If  two  consciousnesses  at  a  distance  from  the 
human  forms  which  they  animate  can  hold  intelligent 
and  intelligible  thought,  converse  with  each  other, 
it  is  a  mere  matter  of  extension  (as  is  gravitation), 
and  this  is  a  question  for  observation  and  experiment 
and  not  for  dogmatism.  If  telepathy  can  reach  across 
a  continent  it  may  just  as  well  reach  the  surviving 


PRACTICAL  CASES  CONTINUED        275 

spirits  of  the  dead,  and  prove  their  existence.  The 
phenomena  of  crystal  vision  and  planchette  writing 
are  known  from  the  earliest  ages,  and  among  all 
peoples.  In  China  their  system  of  writing  by  com- 
posite characters  in  groups  precludes  the  easy  use  of 
such  instruments  as  a  pencil  moving  in  contact  with 
paper,  for  it  can  only  operate  well  for  written 
languages ;  the  planchette  employed  in  China  is 
described  by  Tcheng-Ki-Tong,  of  the  Imperial 
Chinese  Legation  in  England,  in  his  book  "  Chin- 
Chin  "  (London,  1895),  as  follows : — 

'  We  have  no  want  of  literary  gods.  A  large  dish 
is  taken  filled  with  sand,  and  then  the  two  ends  of  a 
curved  stick  of  wood  are  moved  over  it.  The,  god 
guides  the  points,  and  a  number  of  acrostic  sentences 
and  poems  are  the  result,  written  in  the  sand.  The 
spirits  of  well-known  literary  men  of  bygone  ages  are 
called  for,  and  they  are  begged  to  attend  the  meeting, 
and  to  give  some  specimens  of  their  poetic  talents. 
Let  me  describe  one  of  these  scenes. 

"  The  brush,  after  having  moved  about  for  some 
time,  announces  that  a  literary  god  is  approaching. 
At  once  it  begins  to  trace  out  the  following  quatrain : — 

"  '  Twilight  covers  half  the  mountains, 
The  tired  birds  return  to  their  nests. 
The  stork,  driven  by  the  azure  zephyr, 
Comes  down  from  heaven  through  the  clouds.'  M 

(Of  course  in  Chinese  the  lines  are  rhymed.) 

A  long  conversation  is  given  by  the  author,  with 
a  number  of  poems,  concluding  as  follows  : — 

"  Is  it  truejthat  besides  heaven,  there  is  hell  ?  " 
__^JHell  and  heaven  are  in  the  minds  of  men — one~re- 
presents  what  is  good,  the  other  whatls^bad." 

President  W.  A.  P"M^in7OTrr±M>.,  of  the 
Chinese  Imperial  University,  in  his  great  work,  "  The 
Lore  of  Cathay,"  describes  a  modification  of  the  above 
instrument  as  follows  : — 

"  Another  medium  is  the  fu  lun,  an  instrument 
which  we  may  describe  as  a  magic  pen.  It  consists 
of  a  vertical  stick  suspended  like  a  pendulum  from  a 
cross-bar.  The  bar  is  supported  at  each  end  by  a 


276  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

votary  of  the  genii,  care  being  taken  that  it  shall  rest 
on  the  hand  as  freely  as  an  oscillating  engine  does  on 
its  bearings.  A  table  is  sprinkled  with  meal ;  and, 
after  being  properly  invoked,  the  spirit  manifests  his 
presence  by  slight  irregular  motions  of  the  pen  or 
pendulum,  which  leaves  its  trace  in  the  meal.  These 
marks  are  deciphered  by  competent  authorities,  who 
make  known  the  response  from  the  spirit  world.  This 
will  be  recognised  as  an  early  form  of  planchette.  In 
the  Far  East,  it  has  been  in  vogue  for  more  than  a 
thousand  years  ;  and  there  is  as  yet  no  sign  that  it 
'  has  had  its  days.'  Not  merely  Taoists  by  profession, 
but  scholars,  who  call  themselves  Confucian,  believe 
in  it  with  a  more  or  less  confiding  faith.  When  they 
resort  to  it  with  a  serious  purpose,  they  usually  get 
an  answer  which  they  accept  as  bona  fide,  whether  it 
meet  their  wishes  or  oppose  them.  Often,  however, 
they  call  in  the  magic  pen  to  supply  diversion  for  the 
late  hours  of  a  convivial  party  ;  and  in  such  cases, 
they  tell  me,  they  are  sometimes  surprised  by  the 
result — an  invisible  person  evidently  joining  in  the 
festive  circle,  and  solving  or  creating  mysteries. 
Sceptical  as  are  the  Chinese  literati,  no  one  that  I 
have  seen  doubts  the  genuineness  of  some  of  the 
communications  so  obtained." 

The  above  extracts  are  prefatory  to  what  I  desire 
to  say  about  another  series  of  phenomena,  seemingly 
connected  (as  are  nearly  all  psychical  phenomena) 
with  each  other  at  various  points  and  divergent  at 
others.  I  think  few  persons  familiar  with  the 
ideographic  characters  used  in  Chinese  literature,  ' 
and  carefully  considering  the  appliances  and  modus 
operandi  above  described,  would  be  willing  to  assert 
that  fraud  or  deception  could  be  used  and  not  re- 
cognised by  those  sitting  aroufld  the  table,  or  that 
people  so  keen-witted  and  sceptical  as  the  Chinese 
cultured  class  would,  for  thousands  of  years,  waste 
their  time  in  childish  juggling  like  this,  if  it  had  no 
serious  basis.  And  I  claim  that  the  same  is  true  of 
the  phenomena  of  "Dowsing"  so-called,  or  "Water- 
finding,"  or,  as  the  French  sometimes  have  called  it, 
the  use  of  the  hydroscope,  the  latter  being  a  mislead- 


PRACTICAL  CASES   CONTINUED         277 

ing  word  as  used  in  this  sense.  "  Dowser "  or 
"  Dowsing  "  is  an  obsolete  word,  in  its  original  sense, 
borrowed  from  the  Swedish,  and  meaning  "  to  strike 
on  the  face."  The  instrument  strikes  on  the  "  face 
of  the  earth,"  or  seems  to  endeavour  to  do  so,  and  this 
may  have  given  the  word  its  meaning.  "  Dowse  " 
was  used  long  ago  by  Bailey  and  Smart,  the  latter 
as  a  noun,  "  a  blow  on  the  face,"  but  is  marked 
(vulgar). 

At  all  events,  this  art  has  long  been  known  and 
practised  in  all  civilised  countries.  Not  much  is  said 
about  it  publicly,  but  it  would  astonish  sceptical 
minds  to  know  how  extensively  water-finders  are  em- 
ployed in  England  and  America  by  railway,  mining, 
agricultural,  water-supply,  or  other  corporations, 
before  undertaking  deep  or  expensive  wells.  I  know 
of  one  instance  in  one  of  the  south-western  of  the 
United  States,  in  which  a  city  of  25,000  inhabitants, 
desiring  a  municipal  water-supply,  employed  one  of 
these  water-finders,  who  drove  his  pegs  at  several 
points  on  very  high  ground,  far  above  the  city  level, 
and  a  mile  or  two  distant.  He  could  locate  none 
on  the  wide  flat  valley  in  which  the  city  lay.  His 
results  were  rejected,  and  $60,000  were  expended 
along  the  flat,  affording  only  a  lot  of  muddy  surface 
soakage,  when,  finally,  they  went  up  on  the  mountain 
plateau,  and  secured  a  permanent  city  supply  of  most 
excellent  water,  at  comparatively  small  expense. 

I  have  a  number  of  books  relating  to  this  subject, 
but  Professor  W.  F.  Barrett,  F.R.S.,  of  the  chair  of 
Experimental  Physics  in  the  Royal  College  of 
Science,  Dublin,  and  one  of  the  founders,  and  a  late 
president,  and  now  Vice-President  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research,  has  dealt  so  profoundly  and  ex- 
tensively with  the  whole  subject  in  his  two  reports 
entitled  "  On  the  So-called  Divining  Rod,"  in  volumes 
xiii.  and  xv.  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research  (July  1897  and  October  1900), 
that  nothing  more  of  importance  can  be  desired  or, 
so  far  as  I  know,  obtained.  This  work  has  the  high 
character  of  all  the  work  of  this  distinguished  man 
of  science,  teacher  and  writer,  and  neither  time, 


278  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

labour  nor  expense  has  been  spared  in  the  collection 
of  all  previous  authorities,  and  in  the  prosecution  of 
all  original  investigations  requisite  for  determining 
the  facts,  and  studying  and  weighing  the  evidence  to 
account  for  the  phenomena.  The  two  reports  together 
cover  more  than  530  of  the  closely  printed  pages  of 
the  proceedings,  and  constitute  a  mine  of  information 
on  this  really  important  subject.  I  shall  use  only  the 
second  and  later  report  of  Professor  Barrett,  and  I  can 
quote  only  in  the  briefest  possible  manner  what  may 
show  to  some  extent  the  scope,  means,  and  methods 
employed. 

Professor  Barrett  gives  a  list  of  the  professional 
dowsers,  known  to  him,  in  England  and  Wales.  There 
are  thirty-five  in  the  list, who  are  employed  profession- 
ally, and  work  for  pay  as  professionals.  "  No  doubt," 
says  the  author,  "  there  are  several  others  of  whom  I 
have  not  heard,  and  there  are,  of  course,  in  addition, 
numbers  of  amateur  dowsers,  some  of  whom  have 
been  remarkably  successful." 

Anyone  reading  this  work  of  Professor  Barrett's 
will  discover  that  the  amateur  dowsers  must  far  out- 
number the  professionals,  these  being  those  who  do 
not  advertise  and  work  for  pay.  I  know  that  this 
is  so  in  America,  and  some  of  the  best  water-finders 
are  only  known  privately  and  in  their  own  neighbour- 
hoods. I  think  the  proportion  of  those  capable  of 
acquiring  this  art  is  at  least  as  great  as  in  the  case  of 
those  who  can  learn  crystal  vision. 

One  of  the  principal  inhibitions  in  acquiring  the 
art  of  dowsing,  I  think,  is  in  a  sort  of  "  stage- 
fright  "  when  undertaking  experiments.  If  they  see 
another  practising  the  art,  and  then  have  this  dowser 
hold  or  touch  the  amateur's  wrists  while  the  latter 
holds  the  forked  or  curved  stick  (of  which  Professor 
Barrett  mentions  numerous  instances),  the  instru- 
ment will  work  at  second-hand,  as  it  were,  and  the 
confidence  and  method  thus  acquired  will  shortly 
lead  to  successful  practice,  in  the  amateur's  hands 
alone.  The  first  success  is  surprising  enough  to 
startle  any  amateur,  as  is  also  the  case  with  automatic 
writing. 


PRACTICAL  CASES  CONTINUED        279 

While  success  does  not  attend  every  experiment 
of  the  water-finders,  yet  the  preponderance  of 
successes  over  failures,  beyond  what  chance  could 
possibly  account  for,  determines  the  authenticity  of 
the  phenomena. 

And  these  failures  themselves  may  not  really  be 
failures  in  many  cases,  for,  as  we  do  not  fully  under- 
stand the  factors  employed  to  produce  the  visible 
results,  nor  the  conditions  and  possible  prohibitions 
encountered,  we  cannot  determine  what  inhibitory 
factors  may  not  interfere  with  what  otherwise  would 
prove  successful.  A  single  ray  of  invisible  light  from 
the  ultra-visible  end  of  the  spectrum  will  make  the 
taking  or  development  of  a  photographic  negative  a 
failure,  and,  as  I  have  mentioned  elsewhere,  of  the 
mirage,  invisible  reflections  from  invisible  planes  of 
irregularly  heated  air  will  present  a  scene  which  has 
often  misled  travellers,  or  armies  indeed,  from  suc- 
cessful "water-finding,"  in  plain  view,  to  failures, 
often  involving  loss  of  life.  It  is  a  strong  corrobora- 
tion  of  the  genuineness  of  the  dowser's  art  that,  as 
is  well  known,  one  dowser  following  another  later  on 
will  nearly  always  mark  the  same  exact  spots.  The 
eminent  French  anthropologist,  Professor  Gabriel  De 
Mortillet,  confirms  this  fact ;  as  quoted  by  Professor 
Barrett,  he  says  : 

'  This  much,  however,  is  certain,  which  I  can 
affirm  as  the  result  of  experience,  that  the  point 
chosen  by  one  diviner  will  also  be  chosen  by  others 
brought  from  a  distance,  and  completely  ignorant  of 
the  preceding  experiments.  A  real  phenomenon  to 
study  does  therefore  exist." 

As  an  example  of  the  methods  and  results  of  these 
water-finders,  I  quote  the  following  from  a  letter  in 
Barrett's  report  of  Montgomerie  &  Company 
(Limited),  Haddington. 

"  Previous  to  our  communicating  with  Mr  Gataker 
we  had  decided  to  put  down  an  artesian  bore  at  a 
different  part  of  our  ground.  On  arrival  Mr  Gataker 
started  over  the  ground  at  a  fair  speed  with  the  palms 
of  his  hands  towards  the  earth.  After  proceeding 
some  distance  he  was  able  to  locate  a  spring  at  the 


280  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

end  of  our  new  mailings.  He  then  proceeded  over  a 
strawberry  field  belonging  to  us,  and  at  about  70 
yards  from  where  he  located  the  first  spring  he  located 
another.  He  guaranteed  that  from  either  of  those 
springs  we  would  get  a  supply  of  about  20,000  gallons 
per  day  at  a  depth  of  from  100  ft.  to  150  ft.  We  put 
down  a  4-inch  bore  at  the  first  spring,  and  are  pleased 
to  say  that  at  a  depth  of  102  ft.  we  are  getting  a 
supply  of  about  100,000  gallons  per  day,  and  the 
water  is  coming  up  with  great  force." 

This  boring  passed  through  the  following  strata  : 
— 20  ft.  sand  and  gravel ;  6  ft.  boulder  clay  ;  19  ft. 
fireclay ;  45  ft.  sandstone  and  what  are  called 
"  faikes  "  in  alternate  layers  ;  then  8  ft.  marl ;  and 
finally  sandstone  to  depth  of  bore,  at  103  ft.  The 
bore  hole  is  about  100  ft.  above  sea  level.  A  firm 
near  by,  which  bored  without  the  aid  of  a  "  water- 
finder  "  sunk  to  a  depth  of  660  ft.  and  "  failing  to 
find  water  have  had  to  abandon  the  bore."  From  a 
report  of  the  Cheltenham  Steam  Laundry,  in  1896, 
embraced  in  Professor  Barrett's  second  report,  I  quote 
the  following,  with  reference  to  the  technique  of  the 
process  : — 

"  Taking  one  of  his  small,  slender  twigs,  he  held 
it  in  front  of  him  with  his  arms  lowered  and  one  end  of 
it  in  each  hand,  so  that  the  angle  of  the  fork  pointed  very 
slightly  downwards,  about  three  feet  from  the  ground. 
Thus  he  commenced  to  walk  slowly  in  a  straight  line 
across  the  field.  Suddenly  the  twig  gave  a  turn  in 
the  operator's  hands,  began  to  revolve,  and  continued 
to  do  so  while  he  remained  within  the  area  in  which 
he  experienced  the  '  shock '  of  water.  The  two 
directors  attempted  to  stay  the  revolving  motion  of 
the  twig  while  the  operator  carried  it  over  the  affected 
area,  but  though  each  seized  one  end  of  it,  they  could 
not  do  so,  the  ends  of  the  twig,  in  fact,  slightly 
lacerating  their  fingers  as  it  turned  in  resistance  to  all 
the  pressure  they  could  employ.  Similar  results  were 
obtained  with  the  wire.  Then  Dr  Car  dew  walked 
across  the  affected  spot  with  the  twig  in  his  hands, 
but  the  simple  apparatus  remained  quite  stationary 
until  Mr  Chesterman  (the  operator)  placed  his 


PRACTICAL  CASES   CONTINUED       281 

hands  on  the  doctor's  wrists,  when  it  began  to 
revolve." 

Following  the  above  is  a  report  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Taylor.  A  dowser,  Mr  Tompkins,  had 
marked  some  points  for  borings,  and  later  on  Mr 
Chesterman,  who  was  in  the  neighbourhood,  was 
asked  by  Colonel  Taylor  if  he  would  go  into  his  garden 
and  try  to  locate  a  stream  found  by  Mr  Tompkins. 
He  kindly  consented,  but  it  was  quite  a  dark  night 
when  they  went  out,  "  but  it  made  no  difference." 
He  then  crossed  the  ground  already  gone  over  by  his 
predecessor,  and  "  found  the  rod  turn  at  the  point  g 
when  he  said  he  was  crossing  a  stream.  I  put  down 
my  hand  to  mark  the  place  with  a  peg  when  it  came 
into  contact  with  the  end  of  the  peg  I  had  previously 
put  in  to  mark  the  spot  Tompkins  had  selected.  It 
was  much  too  dark  for  either  of  us  to  see  the  pegs  even 
if  we  had  searched  for  them." 

The  Reverend  Father  Roe,  of  County  Kilkenny, 
seeking  a  water-supply  for  the  convent  at  Thomas- 
town,  employed  Mr  Wills,  the  partner  of  Mr  Gataker, 
to  come  over  to  Ireland.  Looking  at  the  site  already 
selected,  and  trying  his  rod,  he  advised  its  abandon- 
ment, as  there  was  only  a  very  small  ripple,  and  at 
great  depth.  "  He  then  went  over  the  whole  field 
with  his  rod  and  marked  out  two  or  three  places  where 
an  abundant  supply  of  water  could  be  obtained,  but 
selected  a  rather  elevated  spot  in  preference  to  the 
others.  He  said  we  would  most  certainly  get  water 
at  about  80  ft.  and  so  many  gallons  per  hour." 

By  a  singular  coincidence  Mr  Jones,  another 
dowser,  came,  accompanied  by  a  mutual  friend,  an 
inquirer,  and  Jones  was  invited  to  have  a  try  also, 
with  his  rod.  As  a  result,  Father  Roe  says,  "  he 
pointed  out  the  exact  spot,  and  traced  out  the  water 
in  the  same  line  as  Mr  Wills  had  done.  They  were 
quite  independent  of  one  another,  and  Mr  Jones  knew 
nothing  about  the  coming  of  the  English  dowser,  or 
what  he  had  already  done.  Mr  Jones  could  not  tell 
the  depth,  nor  the  quantity,  etc.,  but  he  was  certain 
there  was  a  strong  current  of  water.  I  noticed  in  the 
operations  when  they  came  over  the  places  where 


282  SPIRIT  AND  MATTER 

water  could  be  found,  Mr  Wills'  rod  jumped  up  and 
Mr  Jones'  down." 

This  last  fact  has  a  certain  significance  in  the  con- 
sideration of  the  subject.  At  75  ft.,  boring  through 
rock,  water  was  struck  in  sufficient  quantity,  and  the 
boring  was  discontinued,  largely  on  account  of  in- 
terference by  water  coming  in.  Father  Roe  con- 
cludes his  letter  as  follows  : — "  I  may  add  that  I  am 
now  convinced  that  the  divining  rod  is  no  sham,  but 
genuine,  and  I  cannot  explain  its  influence  on  some 
susceptible  people  when  they  come  over  or  near 
water." 

In  the  Pontyberim  experiments,  next  narrated, 
two  amateurs  fixed  upon  the  same  spot.  In  this  case 
one  was  the  contractor,  while  the  other  was  locally 
known  as  a  dowser.  After  Mr  Young  got  through 
with  his  experiments  he  asked  the  contractor  himself, 
Mr  Williams,  to  take  a  try  with  the  rod.  "This  he 
did  and  to  his  surprise  Mr  Williams  found  the  rod 
moved  vigorously,  and  apparently  spontaneously  at 
the  same  place  found  by  Mr  Young."  Further  test 
experiments  were  carried  out  by  these  parties  and  the 
facts  were  corroborated. 

Mr  F.  Napier  Denison  reports  experiments  con- 
ducted in  1898  with  a  number  of  persons.  He  says, 
"  Out  of  the  twelve  persons  who  tried  the  above 
experiments,  two  had  the  power  well  developed,  two 
slightly,  while  the  remaining  eight  almost  nil.  When 
the  weaker  members  used  a  rod  over  four  feet  long, 
then  slight  muscular  action  was  clearly  shown  by  the 
far  end  of  the  rod  turning  down.  ...  At  the  end  of 
the  experiments  Mr  Harris'  hands  were  considerably 
blistered." 

In  the  Isle  of  Wight  experiments  near  Shanklin, 
Mr  Mullins,  the  dowser,  was  employed  subsequent  to 
large  expenditures  by  engineers  on  geological  and 
topographical  data.  Within  100  yds.  of  one  of 
Mullins'  marks  a  well  was  dug  and  bored  by  the 
Local  Board  to  a  depth  of  nearly  500  ft.  with  no 
water. 

Two  amateur  dowsers  also  located  two  wells 
within  50  yds.  of  this  spot  where  the  Local  Board 


PRACTICAL  CASES  CONTINUED        283 

had  failed.  All  these  three  wells,  when  sunk  to  very 
moderate  depths,  gave  ample  supplies.  Several  ex- 
amples are  given  in  Professor  Barrett's  reports  of 
dowsers'  pegs  put  down  almost  contiguous  to  deep 
dry  wells,  and  water  was  found  in  great  quantities 
beneath  these  pegs,  and  alongside  or  often  directly 
between  these  useless  holes,  and  at  one-third  or  one- 
half  their  depth.  That  it  is  not  merely  water  which 
affects  the  dowser  with  that  peculiar  "  shock  "  and 
induces  the  rod  or  forked  branch  to  turn,  or  to  be 
turned,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  many  persons  are 
similarly  affected  by  certain  oils,  metals,  etc.,  and  in 
some  cases  by  other  influences,  one  being  the  cele- 
brated case  of  Jacques  Ay  mar,  who  pursued  a 
murderer,  by  its  means,  for  hundreds  of  miles,  and 
secured  his  arrest  ;  also  by  the  Bleton  phenomena, 
and,  in  fact,  by  authentic  narratives,  if  anything 
either  inside  or  outside  of  science  is  authentic, 
within  the  knowledge  of  many  persons  of  high 
repute. 

Andrew  Lang,  in  his  "Making  of  Religion" 
(London,  1898),  in  discussing  Professor  Barrett's 
first  report  on  the  divining  rod,  says,  "  Professor 
Barrett  gives  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  cases,  in 
which  he  was  only  able  to  discover,  on  good  authority, 
twelve  failures." 

A.  Goodrich-Freer,  in  her  "  Essays  in  Psychical 
Research  "  (London,  1899),  in  discussing  this  sub- 
ject, says  : 

"  Certainly,  to  judge  from  the  extent  of  the 
claims  of  the  various  professional  '  dowsers  '  and, 
still  more  important,  the  testimonials  as  to  their 
success  from  well-known  landed  proprietors  who  have 
employed  them,  we  may  gather  that,  whatever  be 
the  explanation  of  the  fact,  the  waterfinder  has 
justified  his  existence." 

I  have  given  considerable  space  to  this  subject, 
because  it  seems  to  me  likely  that  this  art,  or  faculty, 
or  practice  is  connected  at  many  points  with  whole 
ranges  of  other  faculties  in  such  wise  that  it  will  afford 
a  point  d'appui  by  which  these  may  be  studied  far 
more  advantageously  than  from  any  other  now  at 


284  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

hand.    The  question  which,  hence,  arises  is — what 
is  the  explanation  of  this  art  or  faculty  ? 

It  is  only  recently,  of  course,  that  any  intelligible 
explanation  has  been  possible,  only,  in  fact,  since  the 
establishment  of  the  entity  of  the  subconscious  de- 
partment of  the  mind,  and  its  control  over  the  surface- 
consciousness,  and  its  connections,  beyond  our  ap- 
parent physical  limits. 

Professor  Barrett,  after  enumerating  several 
attempted  explanations — (i)  various  hints  which 
have  been  unconsciously  absorbed  by  the  operator  ; 
(2)  hyperaesthetic  discernment  of  surface  signs ; 
and  (3)  some  kind  of  transcendent  discernment 
possessed  by  his  subconscious  self,  of  this  latter, 
says  : 

"  For  my  own  part,  I  am  disposed  to  think  that 
this  last  cause,  though  less  acceptable  to  science,  will 
ultimately  be  found  the  true  explanation  of  the  more 
striking  successes  of  a  good  dowser." 

He  adds,  later,  in  conclusion  :  "  This  subconscious 
perceptive  power,  commonly  called  '  clairvoyance/ 
may  provisionally  be  taken  as  the  explanation  of  those 
successes  of  the  dowser  which  are  inexplicable  on 
any  grounds  at  present  known  to  science." 

The  undoubted  fact  that  in  many,  if  not  most, 
of  these  cases  the  dowsers  were  not  only  able  to  locate 
the  water,  but  very  closely  to  approximate  its  depth, 
quantity,  and,  in  many  cases,  its  quality,  takes  it 
out  of  the  category,  in  my  opinion,  of  simple 
subconscious  perception  or  feeling.  These  factors  can 
only  be  explained  in  analogy  with  such  cases  of  crystal 
vision,  numerous  and  familiar  enough,  in  which  one 
sees  definite  numbers,  colours,  actions,  etc.,  in  distant 
countries,  as  observations  among  soldiers  in  India, 
or  a  sick  officer  amid  his  surroundings  lying  on  the 
deck  of  a  vessel  in  the  Suez  Canal,  as  in  some  of  Miss 
Freer's  cases.  Such  cases  are  not  unusual  in  ad- 
vanced hypnosis  (so-called,  but  very  badly  called), 
as  in  some  of  Charcot's  experiments,  where  the 
hypnotised  patient  diagnosticated  and  located  an 
internal  organic  disease  in  an  unknown  subject 
hundreds  of  miles  distant.  Such  were  the  narrated 


PRACTICAL  CASES  CONTINUED        285 

experiments  of  St  Paul,  when  he  could  not  tell  if  he 
was  inside  or  outside  the  spirit,  of  Mohammed's 
night  visit  to  the  spirit  world,  or  some  of  those  of 
Swedenborg. 

I  am  not  arguing  for  the  veridicity  of  the  above 
results,  but  only  for  the  veridicity  of  the  phenomena. 
Some  water-finders  have  claimed  to  see  the  under- 
ground waters  clairvoyantly  as  a  panorama,  but  these 
cases  may  be  attributable  to  unverifiable  self-sugges- 
tion. Somewhere,  I  cannot  now  place  my  hand  on 
it,  I  have  read  a  caretful  and  authentic  narrative  of  a 
boy  in  France  (a  modern  case)  who,  in  hypnosis,  or 
trance,  was  directed  to  look  up  a  captain  in  the  city 
of  Algiers.  He  proceeded,  narrating  his  trip  as  he  went 
along,  crossing  the  Mediterranean,  then,  finding  that 
the  captain  had  been  ordered  far  up  into  the  interior, 
following  him  there,  describing  the  strange  scenes  and 
animals  as  he  went,  then  finding  the  captain  amid  his 
wild  surroundings,  and  finally  returning.  Hisnarrative 
was  exactly  in  accordance  with  the  facts,  then  largely 
unknown,  of  course,  to  all  present.  This  is  in  ac- 
cordance with  some  of  the  experiments  of  Professor 
Krafft-Ebing  of  the  University  of  Gratz,  Austria. 

In  "  Phantasms  of  the  Living,"  one  of  the  publica- 
tions resulting  from  experiments  and  investigations 
of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  are  given  a 
number  of  like  cases  by  W.  Stainton  Moses,  and 
others. 

In  Loren  Albert  Sherman's  book,  "  The  Science  of 
the  Soul"  (1895),  are  given  a  number  of  capital 
experiments  of  this  sort,  conducted  by  Mr  Frank 
R.  Alderman.  In  one  case  a  boy  under  hypnosis 
was  sent  to  a  neighbour's  house  to  describe  the 
interior,  which  he  correctly  did.  If  any  of  those 
present  were  acquainted  with  this  interior  this  might 
have  been  accounted  for  by  telepathy,  but  not 
necessarily  so.  We  count  such,  however,  as  non- 
evidential.  In  another  case  his  subject  was  requested 
by  someone  to  visit  a  house  of  a  certain  street  and 
number,  and  did  so,  describing  the  exterior  accurately, 
and,  on  going  inside,  at  first  said,  "I  see  nothing," 
but  finally,  when  pushed  for  a  description,  described 


286  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

furniture,  pictures,  etc.  The  gentleman  then  an- 
nounced that  the  boy  was  entirely  wrong,  as  the 
house  had  been  vacant  for  some  time .  At  this  a  gentle- 
man at  the  other  side  of  the  room  stated,  for  Mr 
Alderman's  benefit,  that  he  lived  next  door,  and  that 
the  boy's  description  wascorrectasitwaslastfurnished. 
This,  if  telepathic,  must  have  been  of  a  very  complex 
type  of  telepathy.  Another  case,  which  seems  to 
exclude  telepathy,  was  when  he  sent  the  boy  to  get 
the  number  of  the  room  at  a  certain  hotel  at  which  a 
friend  was  stopping.  He  brought  it  back  correctly, 
and  said  he  went  to  the  room,  and  he  then  described 
its  contents,  but  found  no  one  there.  Again,  sent 
back  to  learn  where  the  friend  then  was,  he  returned, 
stating  that  the  clerk  had  said,  "  He  went  out  about 
half  past  seven,"  which  was  afterwards  found  to  be 
correct. 

Mr  Alderman  stated  that  his  subjects  claimed  to 
see  the  objects  just  as  though  in  a  normal  way  ;  they 
could  not  see  the  future,  but  saw  past  objects  and 
events ;  one  said  he  "  saw  it  as  it  came  around,"  or 
apparently,  as  Mr  Alderman  thought,  as  in  a  revolving 
panorama.  On  one  occasion  the  experimenter  was 
desired  by  a  gentleman  present  to  send  the  boy's 
projection  to  Marine  City,  where  were  a  number  of 
salt-wells.  He  did  so,  described  the  pump  and  tubes, 
and  then  was  directed  to  follow  the  latter  down  into 
the  earth  to  the  end.  At  the  first  attempt  he  got 
switched  off,  after  going  a  short  distance  into  the 
ground.  The  second  time  he  went  down,  saying  he 
"  guessed  he  was  down  800  ft.,"  and  "  that  there 
was  a  channel  broader  and  higher  than  the  parlour 
he  was  in  (30  ft.  by  12  ft.)  that  ran  to  the  end  of  the 
tube,  the  strainer  of  which  was  more  or  less  covered 
with  particles.  The  surroundings  appeared  to  him  as 
being  blue,  light  blue.  The  length  of  the  channel  he 
could  not  determine,  as  there  was  a  turn  in  it. 
Directed  to  go  to  the  turn  and  report  further,  he 
replied  that  he  had  done  so,  and  found  another  turn, 
in  fact,  that  the  channel  was  a  long  one  and  crooked, 
resembling  a  river." 

The  statement  follows  that  on  awakening  the  boy 


PRACTICAL  CASES  CONTINUED        287 

began  to  expectorate,  as  though  he  had  something 
disagreeable  in  his  mouth.  The  sympathy  of  one  of 
the  ladies  present  was  soon  aroused,  however,  and  in 
answer  to  their  queries  as  to  what  troubled  him,  he 
said  with  some  feeling,  "  You  have  been  putting  salt 
in  my  mouth." 

Mr  Sherman's  conclusion,  which  seems  to  be  in 
accordance  with  the  facts  (unless  it  be  desired  to 
substitute  the  subconscious  with  power  to  act,  for  the 
word  "  soul "  which  is  used  in  so  many  and  such 
various  senses)  is  : — 

".The.  soul  can  leave  the  body  as  an  individual 
intelligence,  and  while  thus  projected  it  has  all  the 
perceptive  faculties  of  the  physical  organism  and 
mind  including  sight,  hearing,  tasting,  smelling  and 
feeling." 

There  is  also,  I  may  add,  a  connecting  link  in  such 
cases  connecting  this  projected  intelligence  with  the 
normal  self  and  its  norma)  consciousness,  just  as  is  the 
case  in  crystal  vision,  which  I  have  described  as  a  sort 
of  trick  of  the  normal  consciousness  by  which  it  con- 
nects up  with  the  subconscious. 

This  clairvoyance  of  the  absent  is  very  common  in 
crystal  vision,  even  extending  to  far-distant  countries. 
It  also  sometimes  extends  to  the  vision  of  those 
already  dead.  In  a  delightful  book,  not  generally 
known.  "  Memorials  of  a  Southern  Planter  (1888), 
being  a  biography  of  Thomas  S.  G.  Dabney,  who 
resio!ed  on  a  large  plantation  south  of  Vicksburg  and" 
Jackson,  Miss.,  the  earnest  and  loving  writer,  his 
daughter,  mentions  a  pathetic  incident  of  this  sort  of 
clairvoyance.  Speaking  of  her  two  young  brothers 
she  says,  "  James  died  first,  and  Sophia  (her  sister 
and  their  mother),  dreading  the  effect  on  Thomas, 
allowed  no  one  to  tell  him  that  his  playfellow  was 
gone.  In  dying,  Thomas  called  out, '  Oh,  I  see  Jimmy. 
Oh,  gold  all  around  !  So  beautiful !  ' 

Of  course  these  perceptions  are  related  to  those  of 
fascination,  which  has  often  been  denied  by  closet 
naturalists.  I  have  myself  seen  many  such  instances 
among  animals,  but  I  reproduce  a  graphic  account 
from  Mrs  McHatton-Ripley's  little  book  of  her  ex- 


288  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

periences  in  the  same  war  entitled  "  From  Flag  to 
Flag  "  (1889).  The  incident  occurred  during  her  flight 
from  the  dying  Confederacy,  with  her  husband,  an 
officer,  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  in 
Mexico. 

"  On  the  first  day,"  she  says,  "  as  we  drove  slowly 
along  this  monotonous  country  road,  my  husband's 
watchful  eye  perceived,  in  a  small  opening  by  the  side 
of  the  ambulance,  a  huge  rattlesnake  coiled,  with 
head  erect,  forked  tongue,  and  glistening  eyes,  follow- 
ing in  an  almost  imperceptible  motion  the  fitful  efforts 
of  a  large  frog  vainly  trying  to  get  out  of  his  way. 
The  snake  had  fastened  his  eyes  on  the  eyes  of  the 
frog  ;  the  poor  creature  could  not  even  wink,  he  could 
not  escape  the  fascinating  gaze.  Turning  his  body, 
though  not  his  head,  he  would  make  a  pitiful  little 
squeak  and  a  desperate  effort  to  jump  ;  but  the 
wretched  frog  could  not  jump  backward.  Every 
motion  he  made  was  accompanied  by  a  corresponding 
motion  of  the  wily  serpent.  So  intent  were  they  that 
we  alighted  from  the  vehicle,  and  Mr  Dodds  stood  near 
with  pistol  in  hand  ;  neither  the  snake  nor  the  frog 
seemed  to  have  consciousness  of  the  presence  of  any 
other  object  than  the  one  upon  which  its  eyes  were 
fixed.  At  last  the  head  of  the  serpent  slowly  ap- 
proached nearer  and  nearer  its  victim,  the  poor 
creature  made  one  despairing  croak  that  sounded 
almost  human  in  its  agony,  and  leaped  into  the  full 
distended  jaws  of  the  rattlesnake  !  At  the  same 
instant  the  watchful  Mr  Dodds  fired  his  pistol  with 
such  accurate  aim  that  the  vertebrae  was  struck  close 
to  the  head,  the  jaws  suddenly  relaxed  and  fell  open, 
and  out  sprang  Mr  Frog  !  If  ever  a  frog  made  haste 
to  get  away  that  frog  was  the  one.  He  was  out  of  his 
enchantment,  out  of  the  jaws  of  death,  and  out  of  our 
sight  in  an  instant.  The  thirteen  rattles  that  tipped 
the  tail  of  that  enterprising  snake  remained  in  my 
possession  for  many  years,  a  memento  of  the  incident." 

Lord  Wolseley,  himself  a  great  commander,  says 
of  this  sort  of  faculty.  "  This  is  the  influence  which 
men,  with  what  I  may  term  great  electrical  power  in 
their  nature,  have  exercised  in  war.  Caesar,  Marl- 


PRACTICAL  CASES  CONTINUED        289 

borough,  Napoleon,  Sir  Charles  Napier,  and  many 
others  I  could  name,  possessed  it  largely.  The  current 
passed  from  them  into  all  around,  creating  great  en- 
thusiasm in  all  ranks  far  and  near  and  often  making 
heroes  of  men  whose  mothers  and  fathers  even  had 
never  regarded  them  in  that  light.  This  feeling  is 
an  addition  of  at  least  50  per  cent,  of  strength  and 
energy  to  the  army  where  it  exists." 

Of  course  electrical  power  is  here  only  used  as  a 
rough  analogy,  like  "  animal  magnetism."  Emerson 
characterised  it  more  accurately,  saying,  "  A  river  of 
command  runs  down  from  the  eyes  of  some  men,  and 
the  reason  why  we  feel  one  man's  presence  and  not 
another's  is  as  simple  as  gravity  ;  and  this  natural 
force  is  no  more  to  be  withstood  than  any  other 
natural  force." 

Allied  with  phenomena  of  the  order  above  de- 
scribed are  those  of  so-called  "  spirit  rappings." 
With  these  again  are  connected  whole  series  of 
physical  manifestations  involving  telepathic  messages 
or  communications  clearly  supernormal,  and  the 
origin  of  which  has  formed  the  subject-matter  of  much 
of  this  book.  In  order  to  establish  the  evidential 
value  of  these  experiments,  so  as  to  form  a  sound 
basis  for  investigation  and  judgment,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  description  should  be  in  the  words  of  those 
who  are  capable,  honest  and  scientific.  Many  of 
the  phenomena  contained  in  this  Fourth  Part  of  the 
present  book  are  my  own  personally,  or  verified  by 
myself,  and  it  is  obviously  so  because  they  are  con- 
clusive evidence  to  me,  as  I  am  accustomed,  from  my 
practice  as  chemist  and  physician,  and  expert  in 
patent  litigation  in  the  courts  for  the  past  thirty 
years,  to  sift  and  weigh  evidence,  and  to  conduct  in- 
vestigations and  experiments  in  a  strictly  scientific 
manner.  But  this  evidence,  to  others,  can  only  have 
the  weight  which  the  book  itself  has,  so  that  it  is  well, 
in  a  corroborative  way,  to  secure  the  evidence  of  men 
of  science  whose  statements  upon  other  like  scientific 
subjects  are  received  with  respect,  and  whose  scientific 
judgments  stand  unimpeached. 

In  citing  such  statements  as  in  the  case  of  Sir 


290  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

William  Crookes,  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  Professor  Barrett, 
and  others,  I  have  given  such  brief  information  of 
these  men  of  science  as  will  recall  to  the  reader  their 
special  qualifications  along  these  lines,  in  addition 
to  their  general  repute  in  the  scientific  world. 

In  such  wise  I  have  already  referred  to  Professor 
Augustus  De  Morgan,  but  in  citing  the  case  which 
follows,  from  his  own  pen,  I  desire  to  say  something 
further  of  this  remarkable  mathematician,  author, 
man  of  science  and  of  sound  judgment. 

In  Marmery's  "  Progress  of  Science  "  (London, 
1895)  De  Morgan's  name  appears  with  that  of 
Newton,  among  six,  as  England's  contribution  in 
mathematics  to  the  list  of  world-famous  names  in 
science  ;  and,  in  the  text,  says,  "  De  Morgan  effected 
a  great  generalisation,  for  his  double  algebra  is  true, 
not  only  of  space  relations,  but  of  forces,"  etc. 
etc. 

In  Jevons'  "  Principles  of  Science,"  from  which  I 
have  already  quoted  several  times,  De  Morgan  is 
indexed  as  authority  under  many  headings,  as 
Negative  Terms,  Aristotle's  Logic,  Relatives,  Logical 
Universe,  Complex  Propositions,  Contraposition, 
Numerically  Definite  Reasoning,  Probability,  Experi- 
ments in  Probability,  Probability  of  Inference, 
Mathematical  Tables,  Personal  Error.  His  works 
on  Probability,  Apparent  Sequence,  Sub-equality, 
Rule  of  Approximation,  Negative  Areas,  Generalisa- 
tion, Double  Algebra,  Extensions  of  Algebra,  etc. 
etc.  Taking  a  single  extract  from  the  text,  Jevons 
says,  "  The  best  popular,  and  at  the  same  time 
profound  English  work  on  the  subject  (Theory  of 
Probabilities)  is  De  Morgan's  '  Essay  on  Probabilities 
and  on  their  Application  to  Life  Contingencies  and 
Insurance  Offices.' ' 

Such  a  man  will  be,  least  of  all  men,  deluded  by 
fancy,  and  most  of  all  be  guided  by  strong  common- 
sense.  If  to  this  be  added  sterling  honesty  and  fear- 
lessness, such  a  man's  statements,  made  after  full  in- 
vestigation, should  be  accorded  the  same  respect  and 
acceptance  as  his  other  writings  have  received, 
throughout  the  whole  scientific  world. 


PRACTICAL  CASES  CONTINUED        291 

His  own  attitude  is  shown  by  the  following 
extract : — 

"  What  I  reprobate  is,  not  the  wariness  which 
widens  and  lengthens  inquiry,  but  the  assumption 
which  prevents  or  narrows  it  ;  the  imposture  theory, 
which  frequently  infers  imposture  from  the  assumed 
impossibility  of  the  phenomena  asserted,  and  then 
alleges  imposture  against  the  examination  of  the 
evidence." 

In  the  preface  to  his  wife's  book,  "  From  Matter 
to  Spirit,"  from  which  I  shall  quote  later  on,  he  refers 
to  many  experiments  of  his  own  along  these  lines  of 
psychology,  and  among  others  narrates  the  following 
experiment  the  latter  part  of  which,  it  appears  to  me, 
is  beyond  refutation  on  any  normal  basis.  The  fact 
that  the  medium's  feet  were  watched  by  those  present, 
and  that  the  significant  conclusion  occurred  while 
she  was  standing  and  talking  at  another  table  and 
"taking  refreshment,"  shows,  of  course,  that  the 
experiment  was  conducted  in  a  lighted  room,  as  such 
experiments  always  are,  so  far  as  I  know  or  have 
learned. 

The  narrative,  from  the  hand  of  Professor  De 
Morgan,  follows. 

"  Ten  years  ago,  Mrs  Hay  den,  the  well-known 
American  medium,  came  to  my  house  alone.  The 
sitting  began  immediately  after  her  arrival.  Eight 
or  nine  persons  were  present,  of  all  ages,  and  of  all 
degrees  of  belief  and  unbelief  in  the  whole  thing  being 
imposture.  The  raps  began  in  the  usual  way.  They 
were  to  my  ear  clean,  clear,  faint  sounds,  such  as 
would  be  said  to  ring,  had  they  lasted.  I  likened 
them  at  the  time  to  the  noise  which  the  ends  of 
knitting-needles  would  make,  if  dropped  from  a 
small  distance  upon  a  marble  slab  and  instantly 
checked  by  a  damper  of  some  kind  ;  and  subsequent 
trial  showed  that  my  description  was  tolerably 
accurate.  I  never  had  the  good  luck  to  hear  those 
exploits  of  Latin  muscles,  and  small  kicking  done  on 
the  leg  of  a  table  by  machinery,  which  have  been  pro- 
posed as  the  causes  of  these  raps  ;  but  the  noises  I 
did  hear  were  such  as  I  feel  quite  unable  to  impute  to 


292  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

either  source,  even  on  the  supposition  of  imposture. 
Mrs  Hayden  was  seated  at  some  distance  from  the 
table,  and  her  feet  were  watched  by  their  believers 
until  faith  in  pedalism  slowly  evaporated.  At  a 
late  period  in  the  evening,  after  nearly  three  hours  of 
experiment,  Mrs  Hayden  having  risen,  and  talking  at 
another  table  while  taking  refreshment,  a  child 
suddenly  called  out,  '  will  all  the  spirits  who  have 
been  here  this  evening  rap  together  ? '  The  words 
were  no  sooner  uttered  than  a  hailstorm  of  knitting- 
needles  was  heard,  crowded  into  certainly  less  than 
two  seconds  ;  the  big  needle  sounds  of  the  men,  and 
the  little  ones  of  the  women  and  children,  being  clearly 
distinguishable,  but  perfectly  disorderly  in  their 
arrival." 

Then  appears  a  full  description  of  the  phenomena 
which  had  occurred,  many  of  the  questions  being 
asked  mentally,  and  answered  audibly  to  all  (a 
common  occurrence,  by  the  way)  ;  he  afterwards 
narrated  the  occurrence  to  a  sceptical  friend,  "a  man 
of  ologies  and  ometers  both,"  who  believed  the  whole 
to  be  a  clever  imposture,  but  concluded  it  to  be  very 
singular,  and  decided  to  go  alone  to  Mrs  Hayden, 
which  he  did.  He  took  his  alphabet  behind  a  large 
folding  screen,  "  asking  his  questions  by  the  alphabet 
and  a  pencil,  as  well  as  receiving  the  answers.  No 
person  except  himself  and  Mrs  Hayden  were  in  the 
room.  The  '  spirit '  who  came  to  him  was  one  whose 
unfortunate  death  was  fully  detailed,  in  the  usual 
way.  My  friend  told  me  that  he  was  '  awestruck/ 
and  had  nearly  forgotten  all  his  precautions." 


CHAPTER   XXXVI 

EXPERIMENTS  CONTINUED — TELEPATHY — CRITICISMS 
CONSIDERED  —  WIRELESS  TELEGRAPHY  —  POLTER- 
GEISTS 

TELEPATHY,  so  long  derided  by  so-called  "  Natural 
Science,"  as  nearly  everything  which  now  forms  the 
body  of  the  sciences  has  been  in  the  past,  has  been 
reluctantly,  and  perhaps  tentatively,  now  accepted, 
as  has  that  wonderful  subconsciousness  which  was 
first  systematised  and  elaborated  by  Myers,  less  than 
twenty  years  ago. 

Physical  science  has  been  largely  compelled  to 
accept  telepathy  by  the  revolutionary  advances,  in 
defiance  of  the  science  of  that  day,  in  more  modern 
views  of  matter,  in  the  X-rays,  in  the  phenomena  of 
radium,  but  most  of  all  in  wireless  telegraphy. 

This  latter  appears  so  analogous  to  telepathy,  that 
when  messages  were  being  transmitted  all  over  the 
world,  at  a  shilling  a  word,  or  even  gratuitously, 
through  open  space,  for  thousands  of  miles,  the  old 
phantasm  of  dogmatism,  as  in  the  case  of  the  phono- 
graph, was  simply  overwhelmed  by  common-sense 
and  commercial  success. 

But  wireless  telegraphy  itself,  to  save  science,  is 
now  called  aerography,  meaning  that  it  is  by  the 
atmosphere,  while  it  is  nothing  of  the  sort.  The 
atmosphere  has  a  vibrating  or  undulating  rate  of 
transmission,  as  in  sound,  of  about  noo  ft.  per 
jsecond  while  the  Hertzian  Waves,  according  to  Max- 
well,  have  a  rate,  but  not  by  means  of  the  atmosphere, 
of  from  100,000,000  to  300,000,000  yds",  per  second. 

ii  the  air  were  driven  at  one  ten-thousandth  of  this 
rate,  the  whole  atmosphere  would  be  made  incandes- 
cent in  ten  seconds,  as  is  illustrated  by  the  pneumatic 

293 


294  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

piston  firelighter,  in  which  a  piston  struck  down  by 
the  hand,  in  a  closed  cylinder,  ignites  a  bunch  of 
tinder  at  the  bottom  with  which  the  operator  lights 
his  pipe,  or  kindles  a  fire. 

It  is  the  ether  of  space  which  carries  the  message, 
but  the  ether  itself  does  not  move  along.  If  one  lays 
a  row  of  billiard  balls  against  each  other,  and  strikes 
the  first,  the  last  one  flies  off  and  the  intervening  ones 
remain  still. 

But  wireless  telegraphy  demands  a  conscious 
message  to  start  with,  and  this  it  will  deliver.  The 
line  is  not  self-conscious,  or  else  a  message  started 
with  "  Peace:  has  been  declared  "  might  end  up  with 
an  original  poem  on  the  evening  star. 

And  so  it  is  of  telepathy  ;  this  requires  a  conscious 
starter,  and  is  received  as  an  intelligible  message. 

And  this  difficulty  in  interpreting  so-called  spirit 
messages  was  not  understood  prior  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  transmission  of  conscious  telepathy,  and,  what 
is  still  more  important,  the  vast  scope  and  dramatic 
power  of  the  subconscious  sender.  This  has  made 
unevidential  much  of  the  communications  long  ago 
received  as  evidence  of  spirit  return,  but  by  no  means 
all. 

We  are  now  so  cautious,  that  if  there  is  any 
possibility  that  the  message  may  have  been  sub- 
consciously and  telepathically  received  by  the  medium 
from  any  terrestrial  source,  or  from  the  sitter  who  sits 
with  the  medium  to  receive  the  message,  we  now 
reject  this  as  non-evidential ;  but  this  does  not  de- 
mand that  the  message  itself  may  not  have  been 
genuinely  received  from  the  conscious  spirit  which 
purports  to  send  it ;  it  merely  requires  us  to  render 
the  Scotch  verdict,  "  not  proven." 

But  even  among  the  old  records  we  find  plenty  of 
cases,  and  particularly  isolated  remarks  and  the  chance 
snatches  thrust  in  by  "  inter jectors,"  and  other  bits 
totally  unknown  to  all  persons  living,  in  which  tele- 
pathy from  the  living  can  by  no  means  suffice,  in 
which,  in  fact,  it  has  no  possible  place,  and  this  evi- 
dence is  as  good  to-day  as  it  ever  was. 

Not  regarding  the  fact  that  long  before  Hodgson's 


EXPERIMENTS  CONTINUED  295 

death  all  this  was  well  known,  not  only  to  .Dr 
Hodgson  but  to  his  sitter,  and  carefully  guarded 
against,  I  will  instance  two  cases  which  I  have  de- 
scribed later  on  ;  those  of  Professor  Bayley  through 
Mrs  Piper,  in  which  his  sister  and  Professor  Newbold 
figured.  I  have  examined  these  manuscript  records, 
and  am  acquainted  with,  all  the  parties.  In  the  first 
case  Dr  Bayley's  sitting  was  interrupted  by  what 
purported  to  be  the  spirit  of  his  sister,  an  inter jector, 
who  suddenly  asked,  "  How  is  Rial  ?  "  But  Mrs  Piper 
unconsciously  hearing  the  question,  made  an  anagram 
of  the  name,  in  writing  it,  as  is  common  with  typists 
taking  down  from  dictation,  and  asked,  "  How  is 
Lari  ?  "  In  the  manuscript  the  last  letters  are  run 
together  at  first  sight,  and  Dr  Bayley,  reading  it, 
said,  meaning  the  word,  "  Is  it  lame  ?  "  The  sister 
suddenly  cried,  "  Is  she  lame  ?  "  thinking  that  Bayley 
referred  to  her  still  living  daughter,  named  Rial. 

Now  here  Dr  Bayley  could  not  have  telepathically 
influenced  Mrs  Piper,  nor  could  any  other  living  person 
or  thing  ;  it  was  a  simple  duplex  blunder,  and  the 
question  which  followed  Dr  Bayley's  could  only  have 
come  from  someone  who  was  no  longer  living — pre- 
sumably the  one  who  signed  the  first  question  "  sister." 

The  next  instance  is  in  the  communication,  through 
Mrs  Piper,  also  to  Dr  Bayley,  from  Hodgson,  in  which 
he  narrated  a  conversation  which  he  had  had,  prior 
to  his  death,  with  Professor  Newbold  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research  (as  is  Professor  Bayley)  and 
which  Hodgson  asked  Bayley  to  have  Newbold  verify. 
Hodgson,  communicating,  said  that  it  occurred  on  the 
beach  at  Nantasket,  while,  in  Newbold's  reply  to 
Bayley's  letter  of  inquiry  the  facts  were  all  stated 
as  correct,  excepting  that  the  conversation,  while  it 
commenced  during  the  time  when  they  were  sitting 
on  the  beach,  was  for  the  most  part  continued  on  the 
steam  vessel  bringing  them  back  to  Boston.  Had 
Newbold  communicated  this  telepathically  to 
Mrs  Piper,  he  would  have  stated  this  fact,  and  no 
other  living  person  knew  it.  But  if  it  was  Hodgson 
himself  who  influenced  the  automatist,  Mrs  Piper, 
after  his  death,  then  the  circumstances  fall  into  place 


296  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

naturally,  for  Nantasket  was  old  to  Hodgson,  and 
his  attention  would  be  given  to  the  conversation,  while 
it  was  new  to  Newbold,  who  would  naturally  pay 
more  attention  to  the  surroundings,  as  it  is  a  beautiful 
and  novel  watering-place. 

The  Society  for  Psychical  Research  has  made 
every  effort  to  exclude  telepathy  from  the  living, 
and  many  hundreds  of  pages  of  its  recent  Proceedings 
have  been  devoted  to  elaborate  reports  of  its  work 
along  these  lines,  and  in  comments  upon  them  at  its 
various  meetings,  and  the  work  is  still  being  con- 
tinued. 

I  can  do  no  better  to  illustrate  this  new  work  than 
to  quote  the  following  from  the  article  entitled 
"  Some  New  Facts  of  our  Survival  of  Death,"  by  John 
W.  Graham,  M.A.,  Principal  of  Dalton  Hall,  Uni- 
versity of  Manchester,  and  published  in  The  Hibbert 
Journal  (Editor,  Oxford,  and  Sub-editor  Cambridge, 
England). 

I  make  as  brief  extracts  as  the  circumstances  will 
justify. 

"It  is  generally  known  that  thirty  years  ago 
Frederic  W.  H.  Myers,  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  our 
generation,  combining  as  he  did  extraordinary  faculty 
as  a  man  of  letters  and  a  man  of  science  with  high 
academic  standing  and  strong  spiritual  intuition, 
determined  to  devote  the  rest  of  his  life  to  the  investi- 
gation of  a  group  of  phenomena  of  which  no  scientific 
explanation  had  yet  been  found.  He  found  in 
Edmund  Gurney  a  colleague  of  singular  likeminded- 
ness,  extensive  leisure,  and  good  literary  and  scientific 
powers,  and  on  the  initiative  of  Professor  Barrett 
of  Dublin,  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research  was 
launched  in  1881.  Dr  Richard  Hodgson,  an  acute  and 
sceptical  thinker,  who  was  at  that  time  an  expert  in 
Herbert  Spencer's  philosophy  and  a  man  of  much 
practical  wit,  shortly  joined  the  band,  and  it  has 
worked  on  under  the  constant  play  of  showers  of 
sceptical  criticism  from  Mrs  Sidgwick  and  Mr  F. 
Podmore.  It  has  issued  twenty-two  volumes  of 
Proceedings  and  thirteen  volumes  of  Journal,  and 
there  have  been  produced  the  great  work  '  Phantasms 


EXPERIMENTS  CONTINUED  297 

of  the  Living '  and  the  still  greater  work  of  F.  W.  H. 
Myers,  published  after  his  death  under  the  title  of 
'  Human  Personality,'  Other  subsidiary  literature  has 
flowed  from  other  pens.  Then  in  succession  came  the 
deaths  of  Gurney,  Sidgwick,  Myers,  and  Hodgson. 
But  this  is  a  work  which,  if  there  is  anything  in  it, 
may  perhaps  be  carried  on  from  both  sides  of  the 
chasm  of  death  ;  and  for  the  past  five  years,  amid 
many  bogus  imitations,  there  appears  to  have  come 
a  stream  of  communications  from  the  departed 
leaders,  which  I  venture  to  claim  has  now  reached 
evidential  force  and  volume. 

"  Communications  have  to  pass  through  a 
medium's  hand  or  voice  ;  she  has  to  write  or  to  speak  ; 
how  are  we  to  know  that  the  communication  does 
not  come  from  some  subliminal  part  of  herself,  or  by 
thought  transference  from  someone  else  on  earth  ? 
If  it  be  accepted,  as  it  is  accepted,  that  the  subliminal 
self  of  each  of  us  may  carry  on  communication  with 
the  subliminal  self  of  another  without  our  knowledge 
or  the  other's  knowledge,  and  that  anything  that  is  in 
anyone  else's  mind  may  conceivably,  by  stretching 
improbabilities,  be  thus  transferred  to  the  medium's 
mind,  it  will  be  seen  how  difficult  it  is  to  choose 
material  which  will  be  evidence  of  a  communication 
from  the  departed. 

"  Myers  and  his  friends  recommended  when  they 
were  here  that  we  should  all  write  in  a  sealed  envelope 
some  word,  or  fact,  or  allusion,  which  we  should  leave 
behind  us  in  the  hands  of  a  trusted  friend,  hoping 
that  if  we  were  able  to  tell  the  contents  of  the  envel- 
ope from  the  other  side  before  the  envelope  itself 
was  opened,  that  would  constitute  a  proof  of  our 
survival.  But  it  appears  as  though  accidental,  merely 
superficial  knowledge  of  that  kind  rarely  survives 
into  the  memory  of  the  next  life,  and  no  such  experi- 
ment has  yet  been  successful  except  a  remote  one 
in  America  many  years  ago.  Myers,  therefore,  the 
initiator  as  ever  of  new  work,  conceived  the  idea 
about  two  years  after  his  death — that  is  at  least  what 
purports  to  have  happened — that  he  would  try  to  give 
through  two  or  more  different  mediums  communica- 


298  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

tions  which  make  no  sense  in  isolation,  but  which 
dovetail  into  one  another,  and  show  an  independent 
mind  behind  them  both  ;  the  communications  to  the 
two  or  more  mediums  being  so  different  that  it  would 
be  plain  that  telepathy  had  not  taken  place  between 
them.  The  mediums  used  have  been  Mrs  Piper,  the 
experienced  lady  who  has  worked  so  long  with  Dr 
Hodgson  at  Boston,  and  whose  communications  have 
already  given  such  strong  evidence  of  survival  as  to 
convince  most  of  those  who  have  studied  them ; 
Mrs  Verrall,  the  wife  of  Dr  Verrall  of  Cambridge, 
her  daughter  Miss  Verrall,  Mrs  Thompson,  and  the 
Anglo-Indian  lady  who  goes  under  the  name  of  Mrs 
Holland.  Three  parts  of  the  Proceedings,  dealing 
chiefly  with  the  script  of  Mrs  Verrall,  Mrs  Holland, 
and  Mrs  Piper  respectively,  have  been  published 
(Parts  liii.,  Iv.  and  Ivii.).  It  is  almost  impossible  to 
give  in  a  brief  form  an  intelligible  account  of  experi- 
ments which  are  so  complicated  and  which  depend 
upon  detail  for  their  value,  but  I  will  here  attempt 
a  summary  of  one  from  Part  Ivii.,  edited  by  Mr 
Piddington  which  I  will  call  Calm  in  Tennyson  and 
Plotinus."  (The  summary  which  follows  is  too  long 
to  quote  here.  The  conclusion  of  Principal  Graham's 
article  is  as  follows.) 

"  If  the  curious  reader  wants  to  know  what  news 
of  our  life  hereafter  is  vouchsafed  by  this  revelation, 
the  best  answer  is  to  exhort  to  patience  and  to  be 
cautious  in  statement.  '  Myers  '  and  '  Hodgson  ' 
declare  that  they  are  very  much  more  alive  than  they 
were  on  earth,  that  they  are  not  really  dreaming, 
that  they  would  not  desire  to  come  back  again,  and 
that  they  are  still,  nevertheless,  in  possession  of 
much  at  any  rate  of  the  memories  and  attachments 
of  earth ;  they  say  that  they  are  still  almost 
as  far  as  we  are  from  the  innermost  Presence 
and  Counsel  of  God,  but  they  confirm  the  claims 
and  sanctions  of  the  religious  life.  They  state  that  a 
period  of  unconsciousness,  varying  in  length,  super- 
venes upon  death — a  period  unusually  prolonged  in 
Myers'  case  ;  and  that  after  a  few  years — say  half- 
a-dozen — the  spirit  moves  in  its  development  too  far 


EXPERIMENTS  CONTINUED         299 

from  earth  life  to  have  any  further  communication 
with  it.  Doubtless  there  are  numerous  exceptions  to 
this  ;  and  we  gather  that  Myers  himself  is  voluntarily 
staying  near  us  for  the  sake  of  the  service  of  our 
faith." 

In  The  Journal  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Re- 
search for  December  1908  is  published  an  address  by 
Sir  Oliver  Lodge  to  the  Dublin  Section  S.P.R.,  in 
connection  with  the  visit  of  the  British  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  which  the  speaker  was 
then  attending.  From  this  address  I  select  the  few 
closing  paragraphs,  referring  to  the  cross-correspon- 
dences described  above  by  Principal  Graham. 

"  These  are  among  the  best  evidence  for  a  separate 
and  peculiarly  '  Myers  '-like  intelligence  which  we 
have  yet  obtained.  It  is  not  of  course  complete,  but 
it  is  singularly  good.  We  hope  yet  to  reach  a  scientific 
demonstration  of  a  future  life.  It  is  true,  as  we  are 
often  assured,  that  such  a  demonstration  is  not 
required  in  religion,  since  faith  is  independent  of  it. 
But  faith  can  be  strengthened,  even  in  the  religious 
mind  ;  while,  in  the  mind  which  is  more  purely 
intellectual  some  such  demonstration  is  increasingly 
called  for.  It  is  enough  to  know  that  we  are  progress- 
ing at  a  sufficiently  rapid  rate.  We  need  not  be  in 
haste  ;  we  may  possess  our  souls  in  patience. 

"  We  need  not  be  in  a  hurry  either.  Our  boat  is 
coming  in.  I  believe  that  a  new  area  of  intelligent  and 
critical  acceptance  is  pending  for  the  work  we  have  in 
hand." 

Sceptics,  and  in  many  cases  those  who  are  not 
sceptics,  in  endeavouring  to  explain  away  evidence 
for  the  supernormal,  after  conscious  fraud  has  been 
eliminated,  place  great  reliance  on  what  they  call 
" malobservation,"  and  "lapse  of  memory."  These 
are  elements  to  be  carefully  considered,  but  their 
importance  has  been  greatly  overestimated. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  if  malobservation  and  lapse 
of  memory  had  the  scope  and  importance  thus 
attributed  to  them,  the  whole  system  of  jurisprudence 
would  fall  to  the  ground,  and  all  witnesses  would  be 
discredited  a  priori.  But  every  judge,  and  every 


300  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

lawyer,  and  every  intelligent  juryman  knows  that  this 
is  by  no  means  the  case. 

In  certain  technical  matters  involving  lack  of 
attention,  malobservation  is  often  fatal  to  the  truth. 
For  example,  prestidigitators  deceive  in  their 
mechanical  manipulations  in  nearly  all  cases  by 
substitution,  and  that  alone. 

They  attract  the  attention  for  an  instant  to  some- 
thing apparently  capable  of  deception,  but  not  so  in 
reality,  at  the  time,  and  under  the  cover  of  this  with- 
drawal of  attention  substitute  one  object  for  another 
without  the  cognisance  of  the  observer. 

So  in  ventriloquism,  the  operator  attracts  the 
attention  to  a  certain  box  or  figure,  and  then  the  voice 
is  imputed  to  that  box  or  figure. 

But  malobservation  could  not  apply,  in  the  former 
case,  to  what  was  carefully  observed,  nor,  in  the 
latter  case,  to  what  the  voice  said,  or  whether  there 
was  a  voice  at  all. 

It  is  on  the  fact  that  while  memory,  when  defective, 
may  drop  out  Essential  features,  but  will  never  in- 
troduce new  features,  unless  tampered  with,  that  our 
whole  system  of  jurisprudence  is  based.  The  old 
method  of  torture  to  wring  the  truth  from  reluctant 
witnesses  was  based  on  the  fact  that  the  witnesses 
had  the  truth  ;  that  it  failed  in  so  many  cases  was 
simply  due  to  the  fact  that  the  torture  was  a  tamper- 
ing, and  the  testimony  then  given  was  mixed  up  with 
deliberate  lies  to  bridge  lacuna,  or  to  protect  those  in 
peril. 

If  the  charge  of  malobservation  (as  made  against 
the  validity  of  testimony,  where  properly  put,  as  it 
must  be  to  be  valid)  is  to  the  effect  that  malobserva- 
tion is  deliberate  falsification,  the  true  force  of  the 
objection  would  be  seen,  and  it  would  be  repudiated 
at  once.  Human  testimony  is  good,  and  the  truth 
can  be  wrung,  by  judicious  cross-examination,  even 
out  of  reluctant  witnesses.  If  this  is  not  true,  then 
the  whole  fabric  of  human  life  is  not  worth  a  farthing, 
and  the  only  reliable  people  are  the  deaf  and  dumb, 
even  if  these  are  so. 

So  of  Miss  Freer's  coming  across  the  little  East 


EXPERIMENTS  CONTINUED  301 

County  colony  of  crystal  gazers.  She  might  have 
forgotten  the  place,  but  she  never  could  have  for- 
gotten the  circumstances.  Such  facts  explain  why 
anthropologists  set  so  much  store  by  common  tradi- 
tions ;  they  are  living  and  enduring  things,  and, 
traced  back,  they  give  the  springs,  brooklets  and 
streams,  before  history  can  even  find  the  great  river- 
floods  with  which  it  deals. 

Take,  for  example,  the  strange  case  of  poltergeists 
culled  out  by  John  L.  Stephens,  the  famous  explorer 
and  anthropologist,  in  the  second  volume  of  his 
"  Incidents  of  Travel  in  Yucatan." 

At  Valladolid,  in  Eastern  Yucatan,  there  suddenly 
appeared  a  "  demonio,"  about  the  year  1570,  "  a 
demonio  of  the  worst  kind,"  says  the  legend,  "  called 
a  demonio  Parlero,  loquacious  or  talking  devil,  who 
held  discourse  with  all  that  wished  at  night,  speaking 
like  a  parrot,  answering  all  questions  put  to  him, 
touching  a  guitar,  playing  the  castanets,  dancing  and 
laughing,  but  without  suffering  himself  to  be  seen." 

This  "  speaking  like  a  parrot "  is  a  curious  fact, 
if  it  was  a  fact.  Among  the  northern  Red  Indians, 
these  mysterious  communicators  usually  spoke  in  a 
squeaky  voice,  sometimes  like  a  kitten  or  an  infant, 
sometimes  like  a  bird,  and  the  same  was  true  in  like 
cases  in  the  eastern  hemisphere.  If  there  is  any 
validity  in  the  vast  amount  of  testimony  at  hand,  it  is 
likewise  that  this  peculiarity  of  voice  was  not  in  con- 
scious imitation  of  lower  animals,  but  simply  because 
the  vocal  apparatus  rigged  up  for  temporary  use  was 
not  of  a  first-class  character,  and  the  manifestors  did 
the  best  they  could  with  these  imperfect  instruments. 

To  return  now  to  the  poltergeist  case,  narrated  by 
J  ohn  L .  Stephens .  This  was  carefully  investigated  by 
the  ecclesiastical  authorities  at  Merida,  and  was  fully 
reported  by  Don  Sanchez  de  Aguilar,  who  was  cura 
of  Valladolid  in  1596,  and  afterwards  dean  of  the 
chapter  of  the  cathedral  in  Merida,  and  an  author  of 
repute,  as  Daniel  G.  Brinton  tells  us  in  his  "  Essays  of 
an  Americanist." 

I  would  not  cite  the  case  merely  on  those  old 
authorities,  but  in  an  article  on  Valladolid  in  the  issue 


302  SPIRIT  AND    MATTER 

of  Modern  Mexico  for  March  1906,  the  following 
occurs,  showing  the  powerful  hold  which  this  old 
tradition  still  has  on  a  whole  population  : — 

,  "  According  to  tradition,  Valladolid  has  been  the 
theatre  of  remarkable  events.  It  is  asserted  that  the 
place  was  long  haunted  by  a  demon  of  the  worst 
character,  which  even  now  is  spoken  of  with  bated 
breath,  as  El  Demonio  Parlero,  because  he  held  nightly 
discourse  with  any  who  chose  to  question  him,  answer- 
ing in  the  voice  of  a  parrot." 

"  He  took  to  throwing  stones,"  says  Stephens,  "  in 
garrets,  and  eggs  at  the  women  and  girls."  Then  he 
played  the  cura  a  trick,  and  afterwards  told  about  it ; 
he  began  slandering  people,  and  got  the  whole  town 
at  swords'  points  ;  the  church  forbade  the  people  to 
talk  to  him,  when  the  demonio  took  to  weeping  and 
complaining  ;  then  he  made  more  noise  than  ever, 
and  took  to  burning  houses,  when  the  cura  finally 
drove  him  out  of  town." 

But  he  carried  on  his  incendiary  operations  through 
the  surrounding  country,  flames  scattered  lightnings 
which  set  other  places  a-fire,  two  or  three  houses  at 
once,  until  finally  the  church  authorities  drove  him 
away,  when  he  returned  to  Valladolid,  and  resumed 
his  old  practices,  until  by  putting  crosses  on  all  the 
hills  he  was  made  to  disappear. 

As  this  narrative  stands  alone  among  the  records 
of  these  particular  people,  and  whole  towns  and 
neighbourhoods  were  concerned,  and  the  case  was 
investigated  by  experts,  and  embodied  in  the  church 
records,  and  as  it  is  still  told  of  with  bated  breath 
more  than  three  hundred  years  afterwards,  and, 
especially  as  it  conforms  to  poltergeist  narratives  else- 
where throughout  the  world,  I  am  satisfied  the  narra- 
tive had  a  substantial  basis  of  fact,  and  I  am  convinced 
that  while  fraud  might  have  produced  many  of  the 
effects,  coincidence  cannot  explain  the  identity  of  the 
case  with  like  phenomena  occurring  among  many  other 
and  unknown  peoples.  Anthropology  and  folklore  are 
dealing  with  such  cases  in  quite  a  different  manner  from 
what  was  once  the  custom,  and  comparative  religion  is 
using  such  material  with  constantly  increasing  respect. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII 

ACCURATE  PREVISION  OF  DEATH  BY  A  SOLDIER  MONTHS 
BEFORE,  WITH  ABSTRACT  OF  EVIDENCE 

ONE  of  the  most  difficult  problems  in  psychology 
is  that  of  prevision.  Such  cases  are  indubitably 
numerous,  and  valid,  and  they  cannot  be  accounted 
for  by  simple  spirits  of  the  dead,  singly  or  combined, 
or  indeed,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  by  a  subconscious  in- 
telligence of  any  sort.  For  example,  in  the  case 
described  by  Dr  Layman  below,  the  amount  of  co- 
operating agencies  dealing  with  mental  changes  pro- 
ducing military  counter-orders  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment,  the  varying  resistance  or  non-resistance  of  a 
body  of  a  thousand  individual  human  units,  the  direc- 
tion or  force  of  the  wind  at  any  special  moment,  and 
the  mentally  depicted  view  of  an  unknown  spot  in  an 
unknown  and  unoccupied  wilderness,  far  away  and 
months  beforehand,  I  confess  staggers  me.  It  is  such 
considerations  that  make  me  look  for  that  "  new  in- 
tegration," which  will  have  a  broader  basis  than  any 
now  at  hand  ;  and  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  this 
new  integration  must  involve  new  conceptions  of 
time  and  space  relations,  perhaps  of  time  and 
space  themselves.  I  have  already  mentioned  some 
cases  of  prevision.  I  could  fill  a  volume  with 
similar  cases  with  which  I  am  more  or  less 
familiar. 

The  Confederate  General,  John  B.  Gordon,  a 
most  capable  man,  both  in  military  and  civic  life, 
in  his  "  Reminiscences  of  the  Civil  War  "  (issued  but 
a  few  months  ago,  and  just  previous  to  his  death), 
devotes  a  whole  chapter  to  various  premonitions  of 
death  among  soldiers,  one  of  which  was  that  of  his 
own  brother,  who  foretold  the  circumstance  of  his 

303 


304  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

death  at  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  and  which 
occurred  as  foreseen. 

One  of  the  most  graphic  and  incontestable  cases 
of  the  sort  which  has  come  under  my  notice,  a  typical 
case,  indeed,  in  all  its  aspects,  as  subsequently  worked 
put  from  the  army  records,  by  myself,  for  a  context, 
is  that  of  Private  William  W.  Shuler,  of  Company 
"I."  n8th  Regiment,  Penna.  Volunteers,  who  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  Va.,  5th  May 
1864. 

The  case  was  originally  reported  by  Dr  Alfred 
Layman,  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  and 
one  of  our  best-known  Philadelphia  physicians,  who 
was  at  the  time  a  sergeant  in  Shuler's  company,  and 
was  intimately  acquainted  with  all  the  facts. 

I  prepared  the  record  myself  for  the  S.P.R.,  at 
the  suggestion  of  Dr  Hodgson,  taking  down  Dr 
Layman's  statement  verbatim,  which  I  had  after- 
wards supported  by  his  own  affidavit,  and  the  fact 
that  his  story  was  substantially  the  same  as  was 
narrated  by  him  on  his  return  from  the  army  in  1865, 
supported  by  the  affidavit  of  his  sister,  together  with 
copies  of  the  original  records  of  the  United  States 
Government,  bearing  on  the  facts  and  statements 
of  army  movements,  battles,  losses,  etc.,  etc.,  the  whole 
supported  by  my  own  certificate  attached.  The 
record  was  read  at  one  of  the  meetings  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Section  of  the  S.P.R.,  and  will  be  published 
in  full  later  on. 

The  brief  published  statement  of  Dr  Layman  will 
be  found  on  pages  672  and  673  of  the  "  History  of  the 
1 1 8th  Pennsylvania  Volunteers  "  (the  Corn  Exchange 
Regiment,  so-called  because  organised  by  the 
Philadelphia  Corn  Exchange).  The  book  was 
published  by  J.  L.  Smith,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  in  1888, 
but  was  completed,  as  shown  by  the  prefatory  letter 
of  General  Chamberlain,  prior  to  22ndNoyember  1887. 
In  this  first  edition  of  the  regimental  history,  the 
statement  was  not  signed  by  Dr  Layman,  but  in  the 
later  edition,  of  1905,  his  name  follows  as  the 
authority. 

Learning  that  my  friend,  General  J.  B.  Gordon,  was 


ACCURATE  PREVISION  OF  DEATH     305 

giving  space  to  narratives  of  similar  presentiments, 
among  soldiers,  I  gave  him  a  syllabus  of  the  case  reported 
by  Dr  Layman,  but  it  reached  the  general  too  late.  He 
wrote  me  as  follows,  from  his  home  at  Kirkwood,  Ga., 
under  date  25th  July  1903  : — 

"  On  my  return  after  an  absence,  I  find  your  letter  of 
July  6th,  in  which  you  give  me  a  most  interesting  account 
of  a  remarkable  fulfilment  of  a  premonition  of  death, 
which  came  to  a  private  soldier  of  the  n8th  Pennsylvania. 
It  is  certainly  a  very  remarkable  experience,  and  if  your 
account  had  reached  me  a  few  days  earlier  I  should 
gladly  have  incorporated  it  in  my  chapter  on  presenti- 
ments. That  chapter,  however,  has  been  revised  and 
returned  to  the  publishers,  and  has  doubtless  by  this 
time  been  transferred  to  the  permanent  plates.  Again 
thanking  you,  I  am,  with  best  wishes,  very  truly  yours, 

"J.B.GORDON." 

The  narrative  of  Dr  Layman,  in  the  history  of  the 
n8th,  is  as  follows  : — 

"  There  came  to  the  regiment  while  it  lay  encamped 
near  Beverly  Ford,  Va.,  as  a  substitute,  a  man  of 
fine  physique.  He  was  assigned  to  Company  'I.'  as 
W.  Shuler.  It  was  seen  that  he  possessed  more  than 
ordinary  intelligence.  He  was  a  fluent  talker,  and 
affable  in  his  manner,  so  that  he  soon  won  the  good-will 
of  most  of  his  company.  He  was  by  profession  a  lawyer, 
and  entered  the  service  in  the  South-West  as  a  captain. 

"  After  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  he  resigned  his  com- 
mission, and  went  to  Philadelphia,  and  while  there  re- 
entered  the  service.  He  told  some  of  his  comrades  that 
he  had  been  in  many  hard-fought  battles  in  the  South- 
West,  but  that  the  very  next  battle  he  should  go  into 
he  would  be  killed,  and  that  early  in  the  fight.  He  was 
often  laughed  at  for  his  forebodings,  but  he  only  answered, 
'  Yes,  you  may  laugh,  but  nevertheless  it  is  true ;  for 
/  see  it  just  as  plainly  as  if  pictured  on  paper.  But  I  do 
not  care,  for  I  shall  go  to  my  death  just  as  I  would  to  a 
ball.'  When  the  Wilderness  campaign  opened,  under 
General  Grant,  and  orders  were  given  to  move  forward,  he 
repeated  his  story,  adding  that  he  had  but  five  days  more 
to  live,  and  that  he  would  face  the  music.  On  the 
u 


306  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

morning  of  May  6th  [see  correction  from  the  official 
records,  should  be  May  5th],  when  our  division  was 
drawn  up  in  line  of  battle  to  make  the  first  assault  on 
the  enemy's  position,  plainly  in  sight  across  the  clearing, 
he  said  to  Sergeant  Layman,  of  his  Company  :  '  You  see 
those  works ;  well,  just  the  other  side  of  them  I  will 
fall.  That  is  the  spot,  I  know  it !  I  know  it ! '  The 
sergeant  said,  '  Captain,'  for  that  was  the  title  he  was 
known  by,  '  do  you  honestly  feel  that  such  is  your  fate. 
If  so,  fall  out,  and  do  not  go  into  this  fight ;  I  shall 
never  mention  it.'  The  look  that  he  gave  the  sergeant 
was  one  not  to  be  forgotten,  as  he  said  :  '  Sergeant,  I 
thank  you  ;  don't  tempt  me  :  I  have  always  done  my 
duty,  and  shall  do  it  now.'  Just  at  this  moment  the 
command  was  given,  '  Forward  ! '  and  forward  the  lines 
moved — moved  into  the  very  jaws  of  death.  The 
sergeant,  now  fully  realising  the  situation,  and  the 
earnest  manner  of  his  friend's  reprimand,  concluded  to 
stand  by  him.  The  lines  rushed  upon  the  enemy's 
works.  They  were  carried  about  fifty  yards  inside  these 
works.  The  fatal  missile  came ;  the  ball  entered  the 
captain's  left  breast  with  a  thud.  Reeling,  he  fell  into 
the  arms  of  the  sergeant,  who  now  laid  him  down. 
Loosening  the  knapsack  from  his  back,  and  laying  his 
head  upon  it,  he  asked,  '  Captain,  is  there  anything  else 
I  can  do  for  you  ?  '  '  Yes,  give  me  a  drink  of  water.' 
But  before  the  water  reached  his  mouth  the  blood  came 
gushing  forth.  The  sergeant  called  to  his  comrades  for 
help  to  carry  him  from  the  field  ;  but  the  captain,  in  a 
dying  whisper,  said,  '  No,  sergeant,  leave  me  where  I 
am  ;  it  is  no  use  ;  it  is  all  up  with  me.  Go  on  and  take 
care  of  yourself.'  Bidding  him  good-bye  the  sergeant 
left  him,  never  to  see  him  again,  as  his  remains  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy." 

Signed  in  the  edition  of  1905,  with  portrait  of  Dr 
Layman. — "  Dr  A.  Layman." 

Not  signed  in  the  original  edition  of  1887-1888. 

The  above  narrative  has  been  much  strengthened, 
both  historically  and  evidentially,  by  the  Official  War 
Records,  vol.  xxxiii.,  which  were  not  published  until 
1891,  and  by  the  muster-out  roster  of  the  n8th,  which 
was  first  published  in  the  history  of  the  regiment,  to 


ACCURATE  PREVISION  OF  DEATH     307 

which  Dr  Layman  had  previously  contributed  his 
narrative. 

I  have  come  across  another,  a  similar  case,  also  of  a 
United  States  soldier,  who  fell  in  the  Mexican  War. 
This  case  has  been  published,  but  not  so  as  to  be  ac- 
cessible, and  I  have  added  the  official  record  to  confirm 
the  statement.  The  case  is  narrated  by  Dr  S.  Compton 
Smith,  who  was  acting  surgeon  with  General  Taylor's 
army  in  Mexico,  in  1846,  in  his  book  "  Chile  Con  Carne," 
and  who  was  personally  acquainted  with  the  facts. 

It  was  during  the  operations  which  resulted  in  the 
capture  of  Monterey,  and  he  quotes  from  Dr  E.  R. 
Chamberlain,  one  of  our  best-known  army  surgeons  in 
that  war,  as  to  the  general  plan  of  operations  and  their 
results.  In  a  letter  to  S.  C.  West,  of  Milwaukee,  written 
28th  September  1846,  a  week  after  the  events  narrated, 
he  describes  the  position  of  Taylor's  army  confronting 
the  works  at  Monterey.  General  Worth  marched  his 
division  secretly  away  off  to  the  right,  and  into  the  rear 
of  the  defenders,  to  attack  their  works  there.  This  was 
on  the  night  of  2oth  September.  Taylor  meanwhile 
made  a  demonstration  on  his  front.  "  At  length,"  he 
says,  "  a  distant  gun  on  the  right,  followed  by  others  in 
equal  succession,  told  us  that  Worth  had  gained  his 
position  in  the  night,  and  had  now  commenced  the 
attack."  This  was  on  the  morning  of  2ist  September. 
"  On  the  morning  of  the  22nd,"  says  Dr  Chamberlain, 
"  a  messenger  came  from  General  Worth,  stating  that  he 
had  met  the  enemy,  on  the  plain  beyond  the  fortifications, 
the  day  before  [the  2ist],  and  had  defeated  them, 
without  any  serious  loss  of  his  own  force  ; — and  that  he 
had  stormed,  and  taken  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  the 
highest  fortifications,  and  would  have  the  Bishop's 
Castle — a  strong  fortress — before  night." 

In  this  he  was  successful,  as  promised. 

Returning  now  to  Dr  Smith's  own  narrative  of  events, 
of  which  he  was  an  eyewitness,  he  narrates,  as  "A 
presentiment,"  the  case  of  Captain  McKavett,  a  regular 
army  officer,  as  follows : — 

"  Captain  McKavett,  of  the  8th  Infantry,  a  brave, 
amiable,  and  much-esteemed  gentleman,  was  the  first 
officer  who  fell  at  this  point."  The  point  referred  to 


308  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

is  stated,  in  Chamberlain's  narrative,  as  that  where 
"  Worth  had  gained  his  position  in  the  night,  and  had 
now  commenced  the  attack."  This  was  while  Taylor, 
with  his  main  army,  was  demonstrating  against  the 
enemy  in  his  front. 

Dr  Smith  continues,  writing  of  Captain  McKavett, 
"  For  a  number  of  days  he  had  had  a  presentiment  of  his 
death.  While  at  Cerralvo,  being  too  sick  to  be  on  duty, 
I  found  him  confined  to  a  couch  in  his  tent.  He  was 
suffering  with  a  severe  attack  of  camp  dysentery.  I 
endeavoured  to  dissuade  him  from  attempting  to  join 
the  advance  of  his  column  on  the  morrow,  and  to  put 
himself  under  medical  treatment.  I  have  no  doubt  he 
would  have  done  so,  if  the  prospect  of  a  battle  had  not 
been  so  imminent.  But,  with  a  melancholy  smile,  said 
he,  '  I  must  proceed  to  Monterey ;  I  feel  an  irresistible 
impulse  urging  me  onward, — an  impulse  which  I  would 
not  overcome.  I  know  I  shall  be  the  first  officer  to  fall 
before  the  town,  and  I  would  not  shrink  from  my  destiny. 
I  thank  you  for  your  friendly  interest/  continued  he, 
'  but  I  cannot  remain.' 

"  I  accounted  for  his  melancholy  foreboding  as  the 
effect  of  his  disease,  and  so  explained  to  him.  '  No  ! ' 
said  he,  '  I  have  long  had  the  impression,  and  nothing 
can  change  my  mind.' 

"  On  leaving  him,  he  bade  me  farewell,  with  the 
assurance  that  it  was  for  the  last  time  in  this  world. 

"  Poor  fellow  !  his  presentiments  were  but  too  true. 
A  nine  pound  shot  struck  him  in  the  breast  while  he  was 
leading  on  his  company,  killing  him  instantly." 

There  are  certain  significant  resemblances  in  this  case 
to  the  Shuler  case.  For  example,  "  I  have  long  had  the 
impression  "  ;  "I  know  I  shall  be  the  first  officer  to 
fall "  ;  "I  must  proceed  to  Monterey ;  I  feel  an  irre- 
sistible impulse  urging  me  onward." 

Then  again,  the  loss  is  reported  as  small  in  this  en- 
gagement ;  and  there  are  others.  This  irresistible 
impulse,  however,  is  specially  remarkable,  and  is  not 
uncommon  in  these  cases.  He  was  irresistibly  urged 
to  his  death,  and  he  knew  it  at  the  time .  It  seems  almost 
that,  the  conditions  having  been  prepared,  he  was  forced 
by  some  like  irresistible  or  inevitable  power  (un- 


ACCURATE  PREVISION  OF  DEATH     309 

doubtedly  psychical  and  subconscious)  to  fulfil  his  part 
of  the  arrangement,  and  be  on  hand,  at  the  proper  place 
and  at  the  appointed  time.  But  what  an  enormous 
concurrence  of  diverse  factors  was  required  to  ensure 
the  success  of  the  prevision. 

A  remarkable  example  of  the  above  type  of  pre- 
visions was  narrated  in  Boswell's  "Life  of  Johnson," 
which  occurred,  it  is  true,  two  hundred  years  ago, 
and  was  published  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  ago, 
but  the  authority  upon  which  the  narrative  rests 
is  so  high,  the  participants  and  auditors  so  eminent, 
and  the  published  work  so  widely  read,  and  so  cele 
brated,  that  any  falsification  of  names,  dates  or 
facts,  must  have  been  detected.  That,  nearly  a 
century  later,  Washington  Irving,  in  his  "Life  of 
Oliver  Goldsmith,"  has  repeated  the  narrative,  is 
sufficient  evidence  to  me  that,  during  that  long  period, 
it  had  never  been  repudiated  or  its  authenticity 
questioned  ;  while  the  fact  that  Irving  re-narrated  it 
in  his  life  of  one  of  those  present  gives  testimony  to  its 
importance. 

The  narrative  came  from  General  J  ames  Oglethorpe, 
narrated  personally  by  him  to  an  assemblage  including 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Samuel  Johnson,  Oliver 
Goldsmith,  Boswell  himself,  and  a  number  of  others 
celebrated  in  English  history  and  literature. 

The  standing  of  General  Oglethorpe,  a  hero  of  three 
continents,  the  founder  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  in 
America,  and  whose  fame  and  name  command 
respect  and  belief  throughout  the  world,  gives  his 
narrative  an  authenticity  which  time  cannot  dim,  nor 
criticism  of  that  supercilious  sort  (with  which  we  are 
so  familiar)  discount.  I  cite  the  narrative  from 
Irving's  "Life  of  Goldsmith." 

"  The  conversation  turned  upon  Ghosts.  General 
Oglethorpe  told  the  story  of  a  Colonel  Prendergast, 
an  officer  in  the  Duke  of  Marlborough's  army,  who 
predicted  among  his  comrades  that  he  should  die  on 
a  certain  day.  The  battle  of  Malplaquet  took  place 
on  that  day  (1709).  The  colonel  was  in  the  midst  of 
it,  but  came  out  unhurt.  The  firing  had  ceased,  and 
his  brother  officers  jested  with  him  about  the  fallacy 


310  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

of  his  prediction.  '  The  day  is  not  yet  over/  replied 
he  gravely  ;  '  I  shall  die,  notwithstanding  what  you 
see.'  His  words  proved  true.  The  order  for  a 
cessation  of  firing  had  not  reached  one  of  the  French 
batteries,  and  a  random  shot  from  it  killed  the  colonel 
on  the  spot.  Among  his  effects  was  found  a  pocket- 
book,  in  which  he  had  made  a  solemn  entry,  that  Sir 
John  Friend,  who  had  been  executed  for  high  treason, 
had  appeared  to  him  either  in  a  dream  or  vision,  and 
predicted  that  he  would  meet  him  on  a  certain  day 
(the  very  day  of  the  battle).  Colonel  Cecil,  who  took 
possession  of  the  effects  of  Colonel  Prendergast,  and 
read  the  entry  in  the  pocket-book,  told  this  story  to 
Pope,  the  poet,  in  the  presence  of  General  Oglethorpe." 

The  conversation  then  extended  to  the  others,  and 
Goldsmith  related  that  his  brother,  the  clergyman,  in 
whom  he  had  such  implicit  confidence, had  assured  him 
of  his  having  seen  an  apparition.  Johnson  also  had  a 
friend,  old  Mr  Cave,  the  printer,  at  St  John's  Gate, 
"  an  honest  man,  and  a  sensible  man,"  who  told  him 
he  had  seen  a  ghost ;  he  did  not,  however,  like  to  talk 
of  it,  and  seemed  to  be  in  great  horror  whenever  it 
was  mentioned.  "And  pray,  sir,"  asked  Boswell, 
"  what  did  he  say  was  the  appearance  ?  " 

"  Why,  sir,  something  of  a  shadowy  being." 

A  case  of  previsional  dream,  thoroughly  established 
and  connected  with  the  assassination  of  the  well- 
known  actor,  William  Terriss,  is  related  at  length  in 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research 
for  July  1899. 

It  is  therefore  a  case  so  recent  as  to  be  re- 
membered by  many  persons  in  England,  the  murder 
having  occurred  on  i6th  December  1897. 

The  case  was  fully  examined  and  reported  by 
Miss  Alice  Johnson,  Associate  of  Newnham  College, 
Cambridge,  and  Editor  and  Research  Officer  of  the 
S.P.R. 

The  following  is  the  narrative  of  Mr  Frederick 
Lane,  the  subject  of  the  previsional  dream,  which 
was  obtained  by  Mr  Frank  Podmore,  the  well-known 
author,  and  member  of  the  Council  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research. 


ACCURATE  PREVISION  OF  DEATH     311 

"ADELPHI  THEATRE, 

"December  zoth,  1897. 

"  In  the  early  morning  of  the  i6th  December,  1897, 
I  dreamt  that  I  saw  the  late  Mr  Terriss  lying  in  a  state 
of  delirium  or  unconsciousness  on  the  stairs  leading  to 
the  dressing-rooms  in  the  Adelphi  Theatre.  He 
was  surrounded  by  people  engaged  at  the  theatre, 
amongst  whom  were  Miss  Millward  and  one  of  the 
footmen  who  attend  the  curtain,  both  of  whom  I 
actually  saw  a  few  hours  later  at  the  death  scene.  His 
chest  was  bare  and  clothes  torn  aside.  Everybody 
who  was  around  him  was  trying  to  do  something  for 
his  good.  The  dream  was  in  the  shape  of  a  picture. 
I  saw  it  like  a  tableau  on  which  the  curtain  would  rise 
and  fall.  I  immediately  after  dreamt  that  we  did  not 
open  at  the  Adelphi  Theatre  that  evening.  I  was 
in  my  dressing-room  in  the  dream,  but  this  latter  part 
was  somewhat  incoherent.  The  next  morning  on 
going  down  to  the  theatre  for  rehearsal,  the  first 
member  of  the  company  I  met  was  Miss  Olive 
Haygate,  to  whom  I  mentioned  the  dream.  On 
arriving  at  the  theatre  I  also  mentioned  it  to  several 
other  members  of  the  company,  including  Messrs 
Creagh  Henry,  Buxton,  Carter  Bligh,  etc.  This 
dream,  though  it  made  such  an  impression  upon  me 
as  to  cause  me  to  relate  it  to  my  fellow-artists,  did 
not  give  me  the  idea  of  any  coming  disaster.  I  may 
state  that  I  have  dreamt  formerly  of  deaths  of 
relatives,  and  other  matters  which  have  impressed 
me,  but  the  dreams  have  never  impressed  me  suffi- 
ciently to  make  me  repeat  them  the  following  morn- 
ing, and  have  never  been  verified.  My  dream  of  the 
present  occasion  was  the  most  vivid  I  have  ever 
experienced ;  in  fact,  lifelike,  and  exactly  represented 
the  scene  as  I  saw  it  at  night. 

"FREDERICK  LANE." 

To  establish  the  fact  that  this  dream  was  pre- 
visional,  the  narrative  of  the  murder  was  published  in 
The  London  Times  of  Friday,  I7th  December  (from 
which  I  will  quote  later),  and  states  that  the  event 


312  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

occurred  "  last  evening,"  which,  hence,  was  Thursday 
evening,  i6th  December. 

The  following  statement  will  show  that  the  dream 
was  related  on  Thursday  morning  about  twelve 
o'clock. 

"ADELPHI  THEATRE, 

" December  iSth,  1897. 

"  On  Thursday  morning  about  twelve  o'clock  I  went 
into  Rule's,  Maiden  Lane;  and  there  found  Mr  Lane 
with  Mr  Wade.  In  the  course  of  conversation,  after 
Mr  Wade  had  left,  Mr  Lane  said  that  he  had  had  a 
curious  dream  the  night  before,  the  effects  of  which 
he  still  felt.  It  was  to  this  effect :  he  had  seen  Terriss 
on  the  stairs,  inside  the  Maiden  Lane  door  [the  spot 
where  Terriss  died],  and  that  he  was  surrounded  by 
a  crowd  of  people,  and  that  he  was  raving,  but  he 
[Mr  Lane]  couldn't  exactly  tell  what  was  the  matter. 
I  remember  laughing  about  this,  and  then  we  went  to 
rehearsal.  OLIVE  HAYGATE." 

The  following  corroborative  letters  are  embraced 
in  the  report  of  the  case : — 

"  ADELPHI  THEATRE, 

"  January  4th ,  1898. 

"  I  have  much  pleasure  in  being  able  to  state  that 
Mr  Fred  Lane,  on  the  morning  of  the  i6th  ult.,  at 
rehearsal  at  the  Adelphi  Theatre,  told  me  among 
others  in  a  jocular  and  chaffing  way  (not  believing  it 
for  an  instant),  how  he  probably  would  be  called  upon 
to  play  Captain  Thomas,  that  night,  as  he  had  dreamt 
that  something  serious  had  happened  to  Terriss.  I 
forget  now, and  therefore  do  not  attempt  to  repeat,  the 
exact  words  Mr  Lane  used  as  the  reason  (in  the 
dream)  why  Mr  Terriss  would  not  appear  that  night, 
but  I  have  a  distinct  recollection  of  him  saying  that 
he  [Terriss]  could  not  do  so,  because  of  his  having 
dreamt  that  something  had  happened.  It  was  all 
passed  over  very  lightly  in  the  same  spirit  in  which 
it  was  given,  i.e.  in  the  spirit  of  unbelieving  banter. 

"H.  CARTER  BLIGH." 


ACCURATE  PREVISION  OF  DEATH     313 

The  following  letter  to  Mr  Podmore  is  also  in- 
cluded in  the  record : — 

"5  MILBORNE  GROVE,  THE  BOLTONS,  S.W., 
"  January  20th. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — With  reference  to  your  letter  con- 
cerning Mr  Lane's  dream,  he  mentioned  it  to  me  at 
rehearsal  during  the  morning  of  the  day  which  proved 
fatal  to  poor  Terriss.  The  description  he  gave  me  was 
that  he  saw  Mr  Terriss  on  the  staircase  (upon  the  land- 
ing where  he  died)  surrounded  by  several  people  who 
were  supporting  him  in  what  appeared  to  be  a  fit. 
Something  serious  seemed  to  have  happened,  and  no 
performance  took  place  that  evening — another  fact 
which  was  verified.  As  far  as  I  recollect  this  was  all 
Mr  Lane  mentioned.  I  remain,  yours  faithfully, 

"S.  CREAGH  HENRY.'* 

It  is,  I  think,  evident  that  no  telepathic  communica- 
tion from  the  murderer,  Richard  Archer  Prince,  to 
Mr  Lane  the  night  before  could  possibly  have  furnished 
the  material  for  this  dream,  because  the  murderer 
himself  could  not  possibly  know  that  the  events 
would  occur  in  the  precise  order  and  relationship  of 
place  and  circumstance,  as  these  depended  more  on 
Mr  Terriss  than  on  the  one  who  afterwards  slew 
him.  Nor  could  the  latter  have  known  that  the 
crowd  would  gather  around  on  the  stairs,  and  that 
Terriss'  chest  would  there  be  bare  and  the  clothes  torn 
aside,  because,  as  stated  in  The  Times  report,  the 
morning  after  the  murder,  "  On  reaching  the  private 
entrance"  the  stabbing  occurred,  while  one  of  the 
witnesses  at  the  inquest  testified  (Mr  Graves)  that  he 
"  drove  Terriss  to  the  corner  of  Maiden  Lane,  Strand, 
where  they  both  alighted  and  walked  to  the  private  en- 
trance a  few  yards  up  the  lane.  ...  As  he  was  putting 
his  key  into  the  lock,  the  prisoner  rushed  forward 
from  across  the  lane  and  stabbed  him,"  and  that  Mr 
Graves  then  seized  the  prisoner  and  gave  him  in  charge 
to  a  constable,  and  then  went  back  to  the  theatre,  "  and 
found  Mr  Terriss  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs  a  few 


314  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

paces  from  the  door,  attended  by  a  doctor  and  several 
others.  He  died  a  few  minutes  later."  See  also 
evidence  of  the  stage-doorkeeper  and  of  W.  Alger, 
dresser  to  Mr  Terriss,  who  "  saw  the  prisoner  at  about 
8-30  [on  the  night  of  I5th  December]  watching  the 
people  coming  out  of  the  stage  door  but  did  not 
speak  to  him." 

The  verdict  was  "  that  the  prisoner  was  guilty  of 
wilful  murder — that  he  knew  what  he  was  doing  and 
to  whom  he  was  doing  it,  but,  on  the  medical  evidence, 
that  he  was  not  responsible  for  his  actions." 

The  narrative  in  The  Times  of  Friday,  iyth 
December  1897,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  homicide,  is 
as  follows : — 

"  Last  evening  Mr  William  Terriss,  one  of  the 
most  popular  actors  on  the  London  stage,  was 
assassinated  at  the  private  entrance  to  the  Adelphi 
Theatre  in  Maiden  Lane,  Covent  Garden.  He  had 
spent  the  afternoon  with  some  friends,  and  had  gone 
home  to  dinner  at  about  five  o'clock.  Subsequently 
he  proceeded  as  usual  to  the  theatre,  where  he  was 
taking  the  chief  part  in  Secret  Service,  and  on  reaching 
the  private  entrance  he  was  suddenly  attacked  by 
a  man  between  thirty  and  forty  years  of  age,  who 
stabbed  him  in  the  region  of  the  heart  and  again  in  the 
back.  The  weapon  employed  is  described  as  a  long, 
thin-bladed  knife.  Mr  Terriss  at  once  fell  to  the 
ground,  exclaiming  :  '  He  has  stabbed  me,  arrest 
him.'  The  assassin,  after  a  struggle,  was  captured, 
and  straightway  conveyed  to  Bow  Street  Police- 
station.  Mr  Terriss,  meanwhile,  was  carried  inside 
the  theatre  and  medical  aid  was  at  once  summoned 
from  Charing  Cross  Hospital  and  obtained.  It  was 
not  possible,  however,  to  convey  him  further  than  the 
foot  of  the  stairs  leading  to  his  dressing-room,  and 
here,  after  lying  in  a  state  of  semi-consciousness  for 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  twenty  minutes,  he  died." 

The  part  taken  by  Mr  Frederick  Lane  is  also 
described  in  The  Times  article. 

"  Mr  Frederick  Lane,  who  '  understudies '  Mr 
Terriss  in  the  part  of  Captain  Thorne  (Thomas?), 
had  a  peculiar  story  to  tell.  He  said  : 


ACCURATE  PREVISION  OF  DEATH     315 

"  '  I  dreamt  about  this  very  thing  last  night,  and 
when  I  came  to  the  theatre  this  morning  for  the  re- 
hearsal, I  told  all  the  "boys"  about  it.  I  dreamt  I 
saw  Mr  Terriss  lying  in  the  landing,  surrounded  by  a 
crowd,  and  that  he  was  raving.  I  seemed  to  see  it  all 
and  then  it  all  seemed  to  fade  away.  It  was  a 
horrible  dream,  and  I  could  not  tell  what  it  meant. 
I  tried  to  forget  it  during  the  day,  but  to-night  again, 
when  I  came  to  the  theatre,  I  was  going  down 
Bedford  Street,  when  something  seemed  to  say,  "  Do 
not  go  there."  I  then  went  round  to  Maiden  Lane, 
and  there  I  saw  this  villain.  I  had  heard  of  him  as 
being  an  old  super,  and  I  knew  he  was  asking  for 
Mr  Terriss  last  night.  His  appearance  struck  me  as 
peculiar.  He  wore  a  big  cloak  and  a  slouch  hat.  I, 
however,  do  not  know  him,  and  he  said  nothing  to 
me.  I  walked  on,  and  then  a  few  minutes  afterwards 
I  heard  a  great  noise,  and  found  that  he  had  stabbed 
Mr  Terriss.  I  rushed  back  and  saw  Mr  Terriss  taken 
indoors.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  police  I  believe 
the  man  would  have  been  lynched.  He  was  a  fellow 
of  average  height,  had  a  dark  moustache  and  a  some- 
what foreign  appearance.  I  can  suggest  no  motive 
whatever  for  the  crime.'  " 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

UNPUBLISHED  EXPERIMENTS  CONTINUED  —  CHANGING 
WEIGHTS — SLATE  WRITINGS — AUTOMATIC  WRITINGS 
PURPORTING  TO  BE  FROM  SPIRITS  OF  THE  DEAD 

AMONG  my  oldest  and  best  friends  was  a  very  eminent 
patent  lawyer  and  practitioner  before  the  United  States 
Courts,  of  precisely  my  own  age  to  the  day,  I  may  add, 
and  who  died  a  few  weeks  ago,  full  of  honours. 

Many  years  ago,  between  1874  and  1878  approximately, 
he  looked  into  the  phenomena  of  mediumship,  led  in  that 
direction  by  certain  experiences  which  I  shall  briefly 
narrate  later  on.  He  was  a  man  of  inventive  ability 
and  of  mechanical  skill,  and  though  a  Quaker  by  birth 
and  training,  was  a  gallant  soldier  in  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion,  where  he  was  almost  fatally  wounded,  through 
the  neck  and  head,  at  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg  in 
1862. 

There  was  a  young  man  from  New  York  here  tempor- 
arily, who  had  the  use  of  the  parlour  when  he  had  callers, 
at  a  house  on  I2th  Street  above  Arch,  and  who  had 
mediumistic  powers,  and  was  ready  to  stand  any  sort 
of  scientific  experimentation.  He  was  only  about 
fifteen  or  sixteen  years  old,  and  was  of  dull,  sluggish  and 
nearly  half-witted  temperament.  His  name  was  Hough, 
and  he  still  lives  in  New  York,  I  understand. 

My  friend  had  been  interested  in  some  of  Sir  William 
Crookes'  experiments  in  England,  in  changing  the  weights 
of  bodies,  and  conceived  the  idea  that  he  would  get  a 
spring-scale,  so-called,  a  spiral  spring  in  a  case  with  a 
sliding  pointer,  like  a  barometer,  and  see  what  he  could 
do  with  Hough.  I  would  not  cite  the  case  from  Mr  P.'s 
memory,  although  he  detailed  it  to  me  as  early  as  1880, 
but  the  gentleman  kept  a  diary  in  which  he  jotted  down 
his  experiences,  and  he  wrote  this  one  down  at  once, 

316 


UNPUBLISHED    EXPERIMENTS        317 

and  I  have  read  this  several  times,  and  once  quite 
recently. 

He  bought  a  small  spring-scale,  and  put  it  into  his 
coat  pocket,  and  then  sallied  up  to  try  it  on  Hough. 
He  asked  Hough  if  he  had  any  objection  to  trying  some- 
thing new,  without  describing  it,  and  Hough  told  him 
to  go  ahead. 

Mr  P.  then  went  back  through  the  house,  and  by  con- 
sent of  the  occupants,  hunted  up  an  empty  soap-box,  in 
the  cellar,  which  he  carried  up  to  the  parlour.  It  was 
daylight,  and,  of  course,  the  parlour  was  fully  lighted  by 
the  sun.  He  then  got  out  a  little  light  table  which 
Hough  used,  and,  set  it  so  that  it  had  a  good  light,  and 
put  a  chair  alongside  so  as  to  support  his  soap-box  with 
its  open  side  facing  the  table.  He  then  set  Hough 
alongside  the  soap-box,  facing  the  same  way,  and  so  that 
he  could  not  see  into  the  soap-box.  Preparations 
complete,  Mr  P.,  sitting  opposite,  reached  over  the 
table,  with  the  ring  of  the  spring-scale  over  his  thumb, 
and  his  hand  over  the  top  of  the  box  for  a  support,  the 
scale  hanging  down  within  the  box.  Hough  then  laid 
his  left  hand  on  top  of  the  box  in  the  rear  of  Mr  P.'s 
hand,  the  scale  being  only  visible  to  Mr  P.,  and  nothing 
happened.  At  last  Hough  ventured  a  suggestion,  that 
if  he  expected  anyone  to  pull  at  that  hook,  they  couldn't 
do  it  as  long  as  the  sitter  could  see  the  hook,  which 
looked  to  Mr  P.  reasonable,  and  he  secured  a  stool,  or 
a  lower  chair,  so  that,  when  he  placed  his  hand  as  before, 
the  hook  of  the  scale  would  be  below  the  level  of  the 
table.  When  things  were  thus  arranged,  the  scale- 
pointer  manifested  considerable  vivacity,  and  as  soon  as 
Mr  P.  called  a  number  of  pounds,  or  fractions,  the 
pointer  went  there  with  the  same  certainty  as  the  pointer 
on  a  Ouija-board  will  sometimes  fish  out  the  letters. 
Mr  P.  tried  all  sorts  of  numbers.  I  recollect,  9, 14,  8,  7, 
and  the  like,  with  some  fractions,  on  the  record  in  his 
diary,  and  Hough,  Mr  P.  said,  was  evidently  as  much 
interested  in  the  matter  as  the  sitter  was.  During  this 
performance,  Hough's  left  hand  was  on  top  of  the  soap- 
box, his  right  hand  on  top  of  the  table,  and  no  one  need 
tell  me  that  a  man  of  Mr  P.'s  knowledge,  experience, 
sagacity  and  profession,  would  take  the  time  and  trouble 


3i8  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

to  carry  out  such  an  experiment  if  it  were  open  to  such 
charges  as,  "  that's  easily  explained  "  ;  "  anybody  can 
see  the  fraud  "  ;  "  his  work  was  unscientific  "  ;  "  such 
stuff  is  nonsense/'  and  the  like. 

As  soon  as  Mr  P.  had  withdrawn  his  scale,  he  felt, 
under  the  table,  a  great  patting  on  his  two  knees,  a 
regular  "  pat-juba  "  pat,  and  in  putting  his  hand  under 
it  was  seized  by  some  other  apparent  hand,  his  fore- 
finger extended,  and  this  was  rapidly  touched  to  the 
extremities  of  the  digits  of  still  another  hand,  repeatedly 
from  start  to  finish.  At  last  Mr  P.  caught  on,  to  use  a 
colloquialism,  and  exclaimed,  "  why,  one  of  your  fingers 
is  missing."  Then  there  was  a  great  clapping  of  the 
knees  again,  and  Mr  P.  recollecting  that  a  guide,  or 
spirit,  or  effervescence,  or  something,  was  appearing,  at 
the  Holmes  seances  (which  were  not  all  genuine  by  any 
means),  which  had  only  three  fingers  on  one  hand, 
Mr  P.  asked,  "  Are  you  three-fingered  Aleck  ?  "  or  what- 
ever the  name  was,  to  which  a  triumphant  assent  was 
given. 

As  I  shall  not  have  time  to  discuss  so-called  slate 
writing,  I  will  mention  a  single  example,  for  which  the 
evidence  itself  was  put  into  my  hands  some  years  ago 
by  Mr  P.,  and  which  I  still  have  in  my  possession.  Many 
will  recollect  that  after  the  Katie  King  phenomena,  with 
which  Sir  William  Crookes  was  so  closely  connected, 
and  which  he  so  fully  and  beautifully  described,  like 
phenomena  appeared  here  in  Philadelphia  at  some  of  the 
Holmes  seances,  and  John  King,  or  in  reality  the  old 
buccaneer,  Morgan,  the  alleged  father,  also  appeared. 
There  was  apparently  a  good  deal  of  fraud  in  some  of 
these  experiments,  certainly  there  was  a  good  deal  of 
controversy  about  them,  with  which  I  am  not  at  all 
concerned. 

Mr  P.  conceived  the  idea  that  he  would  try  a  test  case 
with  the  old  pirate,  as  he  had  already  experimented 
somewhat  with  Slade,  who  had  been  here,  in  slate 
writing.  For  this  purpose  my  friend  again  made  use  of 
the  boy  Hough.  This  was  in  1875  or  1876.  He  went 
from  his  office  one  morning  and  bought  two  children's 
slates,  which  I  find,  by  measurement,  were  7  in.  long  and 
5j  in.  wide ;  they  had  thick,  strong,  hardwood  frames, 


UNPUBLISHED    EXPERIMENTS        319 

£  in.  thick,  and  IT*  in.  wide.  He  took  these  to  his 
office,  and  bored  a  hole  through  the  middle  of  each  side 
of  the  two,  countersunk  those  on  one  of  the  slates,  and 
then  screwed  the  two  together,  at  opposite  sides,  by  a 
J  in.  brass  wood-screw,  sinking  the  conical  head  beneath 
the  level.  Having  placed  three  very  small  bits  of 
coloured  slate-crayon  inside,  one  white,  one  red,  and  one 
blue,  each  about  as  large  as  a  grain  of  rye,  he  screwed  the 
two  slates  firmly  together.  He  then  melted  over  a 
gas  flame  alternately  three  sticks  of  sealing-wax,  each  of 
a  different  colour,  dropping  them  on  to  the  screw  heads, 
so  as  to  make  a  raised,  glossy,  and  irregularly  coloured 
boss.  When  these  were  cold,  he  took  a  fine  needle,  and, 
with  a  magnifying  glass,  set  minute  punctures  in  sets  of 
three,  and  quite  invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  all  over  these 
surfaces.  He  now  felt  pretty  sure  that  whatever  turned 
up  inside  would  not  be  due  to  any  crude  sort  of  fraud,  if 
he  kept  hold  of  the  slates. 

He  then  put  the  slates  into  his  overcoat  pocket,  and 
went  up,  a  few  blocks,  to  see  Hough. 

Sitting  there  in  the  parlour,  without  any  intervening 
apparatus,  he  asked  Hough  if  he  thought  he  could  get 
anything  written  inside,  and  Hough  didn't  know,  but 
thought  it  worth  while  to  try. 

So  Mr  P.  went  over  to  the  table,  and  took  hold  of  one 
end  of  the  two  united  slates,  and  Hough  put  his  hands  on 
the  other,  and  Mr  P.  audibly  asked  John  King  if  he 
would  communicate,  and  were  present,  to  take  those 
bits  of  crayon  and  make  a  mark  with  each,  on  one  of  the 
slates,  inside,  in  the  following  order: — red,  white  and 
blue. 

But  a  few  seconds  passed  until  a  tap  was  heard,  and 
Hough  said  he  guessed  they  were  through. 

Mr  P.  then  pocketed  the  slates  again,  and,  to  get  rid 
of  any  notion  of  hypnotic  suggestion  making  him  see 
what  wasn't,  he  applied  his  glass  to  the  sealing-wax 
bosses,  and  found  that  the  various  colours  were  the  same 
and  that  the  microscopic  dents  were  as  they  had  been 
before. 

He  then  removed  the  sealing-wax,  unscrewed  one 
screw,  and  swung  the  top  slate  around  so  as  to  uncover 
the  under  one.  Bear  in  mind  that  the  slates  had  not 


320  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

been  out  of  Mr  P.'s  hands,  that  it  was  in  broad  daylight, 
in  the  middle  of  a  public  parlour,  and  that  the  slates  were 
brought  there  and  taken  away  by  Mr  P.,  that  they  were 
his  own,  had  never  been  "  magnetised,"  and  that  I  now 
have  them  before  me,  with  the  writing  precisely  as  it 
was  seen  by  Mr  P.  on  just  opening  the  slates.  He  had 
asked  for  a  single  mark  by  each  crayon  in  the  order, 
red,  white  and  blue.  What  Mr  P.  found,  and  what  I  now 
read,  is  the  following  : — 


Red  (r) 
White  (w) 
Blue  (b) 


I  am  with  (red) 

you  Mr  (white) 

P.  (blue) 
J.  K.      (blue) 


This  is  the  shape,  set  thus  beside  each  other,  as  in  text. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  writing,  when  the  slates  were 
rotated  together  on  the  pivot,  was  from  top  to  bottom 
on  one  slate,  and  from  bottom  to  top  on  the  other.  It 
was  a  bold,  rough  handwriting,  perfectly  legible 
throughout. 

Now,  I  do  not  claim  to  know  whether  the  old  buccaneer 
was  present  or  not,  or  what  power,  or  modus  operand*,  or 
mechanism,  produced  this  writing  ;  but  I  do  know  that 
a  case  like  this  is  a  legitimate  case  for  investigation,  and 
that  the  lines  of  investigation,  and  their  methods,  pertain 
to  psychology. 

But  Mr  P.  did  a  far  greater  service  to  psychology  than 
by  the  isolated  experiments  he  made,  a  few  only  out  of 
a  large  number  of  which  I  have  above  narrated. 

For  he  placed  in  my  hands  (to  be  used  at  my  discretion, 
by  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  and  with 
authority,  if  necessary,  to  use  his  own  name,  and  the 
names  of  those  others  present,  and  of  the  alleged  com- 
municators), the  original  and  intact  record  of  a  series 
of  automatic  writings,  covering  in  all  more  than  sixty 
pages  of  manuscript,  and  extending  from  25th  January 
to  i8th  March  1875,  with  notes  of  other  experiments 
with  tables  before  and  afterwards.  I  will  not  use  the 
permission  to  give  the  actual  names  at  present,  as  my 


321 

friend  has  very  recently  died,  and  his  surviving  children 
may  not  be  satisfied  to  have  me  do  so  ;  but  I  hope  to  do 
this  later  on,  and  reproduce  the  manuscript  for  the 
S.P.R.  entire,  and  precisely  as  written  automatically  in 
his  family. 

These  records  were  written,  nearly  all,  in  a  small 
quarto  blank  book,  and  in  many  cases  are  almost  micro- 
scopic, requiring  a  glass  to  read  easily.  There  are  no 
erasures,  interlineations  or  halts  and  dashes,  and  the 
record  of  each  sitting  reads  as  easily  as  a  conversation 
between  a  number  of  friends  in  a  sitting-room,  as  it 
really  was.  This  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
all  the  sitters  and  communicators  were  relatives,  or  close 
personal  friends  who  had  long  known  each  other,  and 
that  no  interpreting  mechanism  was  employed — each 
communicator,  apparently,  using  the  agent's  arm  at 
will,  and  just  as  persons  would  use  a  telephone  under 
like  circumstances. 

In  order  to  understand  the  circumstances  more  clearly, 
I  would  say  that  the  young  wife  of  Mr  P.,  a  most  devout 
Christian  woman,  died  during  the  following  year  (the 
messages  having  been  discontinued,  Mr  P.  told  me,  as 
stated  by  the  communicators,  on  account  of  danger  to 
her  vitality),  and  immediately  after  her  death,  Mr  P. 
wrote  an  explanatory  preface,  and  private  explanatory 
letter,  in  which  form  the  completed  manuscript  now 
appears.  But,  finding  that  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research  was  directly  in  line  of  such  investigation  (his 
family  not  being  especially  interested  in  psychology), 
he  consented  to  turn  the  whole  over  to  me,  feeling  im- 
pressed with  the  importance  to  the  world  of  the  work 
of  that  society,  and  to  myself  in  especial.  Mr  P.  and  I 
had  been  bosom  friends  since  1879,  and  we  have  often 
talked  over  this  record,  and  his  other  experiments,  long 
before  I  saw  the  records  themselves  or  his  diaries. 

Almost  immediately  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  he 
prepared  his  prefatory  note,  as  follows  : — 

"  In  Explanation  of  the  Writings  which  Appear  in  This 
Book." 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  I5th  of  December  1874,  there 
were  present  at  my  then  residence,  No.  728  Buttonwood 
Street,  Philadelphia,  my  wife  and  myself,  and  our  niece 


322  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

and  her  husband  (H.  G.),  who  were  living  with  us  at  the 
time.  None  of  us,  I  believe,  had  at  that  time  ever 
witnessed  any  so-called  spiritual  manifestations,  except 
that  I  had  on  two  or  three  occasions  been  present  at  the 
notorious  '  Katie  King '  seances  ;  nor  were  any  of  us 
particularly  interested  in  the  subject. 

"  After  our  four  children  had  gone  to  bed,  I  suggested 
that  we  should  sit  at  a  table  and  see  whether  we  could 
cause  it  to  tip,  or  move  about :  the  others  fell  in  with 
my  suggestion  and  we  took  seats  around  a  small  rect- 
angular table.  We  sat,  perhaps,  twenty  minutes,  with 
the  gas  turned  down  very  low,  when  we  finally  became 
amused  and  merry  at  the  thought  of  four,  sober,  sensible 
persons  expecting  such  a  ridiculous  thing  as  to  see  a 
table  move  about  by  simple  contact  of  the  hands  without 
the  known  exertion  of  force  on  their  part ;  and  were 
about  to  abandon  further  prosecution  of  the  experi- 
ment. 

"  I,  however,  importuned  for  five  minutes'  grace  to 
the  '  spirits/  which  was  accorded  by  the  other  sitters  ; 
but  before  the  time  was  out,  the  table  manifested  signs 
of  life  and  a  will  of  its  own.  Each,  of  course,  accused  the 
other  of  clandestinely  producing  the  movements,  but 
the  affair  began  to  wear  a  more  serious  aspect  when,  after 
turning  up  the  gas  a  little,  we  observed  that  only  the 
tips  of  our  ringers  touched  the  top  of  the  table. 

"  It  occurred  to  me  that  perhaps  I  could  learn  from 
the  table  itself  who  was  the  '  medium '  in  the  quartette, 
and,  upon  asking  the  question,  the  former  tipped  and 
rocked  forcibly  towards  and  against  my  wife. 

"  Then  at  my  suggestion,  we  all  except  my  wife  with- 
drew entirely  from  contact  with  the  table ;  thereupon 
and  afterwards,  whenever  (and  only  when)  my  wife  sat 
at  the  table,  we  received  numerous  very  distinct  and 
characteristic  communications,  purporting  to  come  from 
various  (deceased)  relatives  and  friends,  and  acquaint- 
ances, a  record  of  many  of  which  I  made  at  the  time  in 
my  diary. 

"  The  modus  operandi  of  receiving  these  messages  was 
as  follows  : — Three  (3)  tips  of  the  table,  or  knocks  against 
the  floor,  it  was  agreed  should  signify  an  affirmative — 
one  a  negative.  Upon  calling,  either  mentally  or  aloud, 


UNPUBLISHED    EXPERIMENTS        323 

over  the  alphabet,  three  tips  or  raps  would  be  made  as 
the  letter  wanted  was  reached. 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  24th  of  January  1875,  as  we 
sat  around  the  table,  it  suddenly  occurred  to  me  to  ask 
the  intelligence  that  controlled  the  movements  of  the 
table  (purporting  to  be  my  father),  whether  my  wife's 
hand  could  be  controlled  to  write  the  communications  : 
three  most  emphatic  knocks  by  the  table  against  the 
floor,  was  the  immediate  answer.  I  then  procured  pencil 
and  paper,  and  within  a  few  minutes  thereafter,  my  wife's 
arm  was  controlled  to  write,  and,  a  few  evenings  after, 
I  procured  this  book.  The  following  pencil  writings  are 
just  as  they  were  written  by  my  wife. 

"  She  explained  to  me  that,  when  the writingwas being 
done,  she  was  in  entirely  normal  condition,  except  that 
her  arm,  or  the  greater  portion  of  it,  seemed  numb,  as 
if  '  asleep ' ;  and  that  she  had  not  the  faintest  idea  of 
what  she  was  being  controlled  to  write,  or,  in  fact,  that 
she  was  writing  at  all,  unless  she  looked  at  her  moving 
hand  and  arm. 

"  Many  of  the  communications  were  written  as  we 
(wife  and  I)  sat  before  the  round  table  in  our  parlour, 
conversing  about  various  matters,  under  the  bright 
light  of  an  Argand  gas  burner,  and  the  children  some- 
times playing  about  the  room.  I  observed,  however, 
that  for  some  reason  I  could  not  understand,  the  control 
could  do  better  in  a  very  subdued  light  than  in  a  bright 
one. 

"  The  full  meaning  and  appropriateness  of  many  of 
the  communications  in  this  book  can  of  course,  without 
explanations,  be  understood  only  by  myself  and  my 
wife .  What  was  written  was  frequently  of  an  unexpected 
character,  and  beyond  a  shadow  of  doubt  they  came 
from  a  power  or  intelligence  wholly  outside  of  us. 

"  My  wife's  left  hand  was  occasionally,  at  my  request, 
controlled  instead  of  the  right  (she  was  right-handed, 
and  could  not  write  with  her  left  hand  of  her  own  voli- 
tion) ;  but  the  control  was  more  perfect  with  the  right 
hand,  which  seems  to  teach  that  the  control  is  modified 
and  limited  by,  and  is  in  a  measure  subject  to,  the 
physical  (and  doubtless  sometimes  mental)  character- 
istics and  peculiarities  of  the  instrument  (the  medium) 


324  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

through  and  by  which  it  manifests  itself  ;  as,  although 
the  master  strike  the  keys,  or  draw  the  bow,  the  quality, 
character  and  effect  of  his  music,  depends  largely  upon 
his  instrument.  Is  it  not  highly  probable  that  the 
instrument  which  is  controlled  by  a  spiritual  intelligence 
is  a  more  delicate  one,  and  more  difficult  to  direct  and 
control  ? 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  i8th  day  of  March,  1875,  the 
power  of  controlling  to  write  suddenly  was  lost  and  with- 
out apparent  cause,  and  never  afterwards  returned  in 
that  form.  And  although  on  at  least  one  evening  a  week 
afterwards  we  made  trial,  earnestly  desirous  of  a  return 
of  the  power  (the  matter  having  become  very  interesting 
to  us),  we  did  not  receive  a  single  communication,  or  any 
indication  of  the  presence  of  the  intelligence  of  any  kind, 
until,  on  the  first  day  of  October,  1875  (after  we  had  been 
installed  in  our  new  home  near  Germantown  for  about 
ten  days),  the  power  of  moving  the  table  only,  returned 
as  suddenly  as  it  had  departed  in  March  before. 

"  It  remained  until  the  evening  of  November  gth,  1875, 
and  never  came  back,  although  we  sat  frequently  until 
my  wife's  death,  which  occurred  December  6th,  1876. 
I  made  a  record  of  the  communications  in  the  time  from 
October  ist  to  November  gth  in  my  Diary  for  1877. 

"Dated  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  January  14,  1877." 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

AUTOMATIC  WRITING  EXPERIMENTS  CONTINUED — INTER- 
JECTORS  SUDDENLY  APPEARING 

THERE  is  not  very  much  of  a  so-called  "  test  "  character 
in  these  communications,  though  there  is  some.  Yet 
even  this  is  merely  incidental  to  something  else.  For 
example,  the  father  wrote  that  Mr  P.'s  sister,  living  at 
a  distance,  had  just  had  a  severe  fall,  but  this  was  told 
with  the  addition  that  she  would  get  along  all  right, 
merely  so  that  the  family  should  not  be  unnecessarily 
alarmed  when  the  news  was  received  in  a  normal  way, 
which  occurred  afterwards.  There  are  other  evidential 
circumstances,  but  nothing  striking  or  startling.  A 
sister's  sick  child,  about  whom  all  were  anxious,  it  was 
stated,  would  soon  recover,  etc.,  but  that  might  have  been 
guesswork.  Then  Mr  P.  was  warned  by  his  father 
against  a  certain  man's  business  propositions,  which 
Mr  P.  did  not  suspect,  but  which  he  afterwards  discovered 
to  be  fallacious,  and  which  knowledge  saved  him  from 
serious  loss. 

While,  to  those  who  have  ever  known  the  parties,  any 
suggestion  of  conscious  fraud  would  be  preposterous ; 
and  while,  to  those  who  have  never  known  them,  it 
would  appear  a  monstrous  thing  for  any  wife  to  do,  in 
the  bosom  of  her  own  family,  to  deal  profanely  and 
wickedly  with  the  holiest  associations  of  soul  and  kindred, 
and  indeed,  under  the  circumstances,  incredible,  yet  I 
may  be  permitted  to  cite  the  testimony  of  the  husband, 
in  leaving  this  record  of  his  dead  wife  to  their  children. 
"  That  it  was  through  the  communications  herein  written 
that  both  their  father  and  their  mother  first  clearly  saw 
that  light  which  afterwards  became  to  them  a  source  of 
quiet  strength,  comfort  and  happiness — which  enabled 
their  mother  to  afterwards  look  upon  her  approaching 

325 


326  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

death  calmly,  without  fear  and  without  doubt,  and  with 
a  certain  conviction  that  the  parting  from  her  husband 
and  little  ones  would  only  be  for  a  comparatively  brief 
time — and  which  had  enabled  their  father  to  bear  the 
parting  from  their  mother  with  a  reasonable  fortitude." 

I  know  that  Mr  P.  lived  and  died  in  this  full  faith, 
in  which  he  never  for  a  moment  faltered,  from  the 
time  I  first  came  to  know  him. 

There  are  many  of  these  communications  which  I 
would  like  to  present ;  but  space  forbids. 

But  I  cannot  forbear  quoting  the  following  from 
Mr  P/s  advice  to  his  children,  in  the  preface  to  the 
record. 

"  I  would  emphatically  discourage  my  children 
from  seeking  knowledge  through  public  '  mediums ' 
or  those  who  exhibit  or  use  their  wonderful  gifts 
directly  or  indirectly  for  pecuniary  gain  or  even  for 
support.  It  is  my  experience,  with  very  few  ex- 
ceptions, that  the  class  of  invisibles  who  are  the 
familiars  of  such  mediums,  are  of  a  low,  silly  and  un- 
progressed,  and  occasionally  even  a  malicious  order, 
and,  whatever  their  intentions,  may  be  actually  more 
apt  to  cloud  belief  than  to  induce  or  confirm  it,  except 
in  those  investigators  who  understand  the  subject 
well.  If  you  cannot,  spiritually  speaking,  drink  from 
a  pure  fountain,  then  you  had  best  not  drink  at 
all." 

This  is  the  correct  attitude  of  psychology  to-day  ; 
and  while  all  these  sources  are  fully  and  fearlessly 
investigated,  it  is  to  establish  facts,  and  not  to  acquire 
supernormal  "  knowledge."  Supernormal  knowledge 
of  genuine  value  feeds  into  our  minds  by  inspiration, 
and  through  its  many  other  entrances,  and  it  is  tested 
and  worked  over  in  the  great  intellectual  workshop 
of  the  subconscious,  as  Tennyson  says  : 

"  To  shape  and  use.'! 

But  the  knowledge  to  be  derived  from  earth-bound 
spirits,  granting  such,  is  of  a  different  type,  and  may 
be  or  may  not  be  "  a  game  worth  the  candle." 
Intelligent  spiritualists  all  understand  this  ;  it  is  not 
necessary  to  give  this  warning  to  them ;  it  is  the 


EXPERIMENTS   CONTINUED          327 

ignorant  and  the  neophytes  who  are  in  danger,  and 
especially  those  who  "  come  on  a  run  "  from  the 
materialistic  camps. 

An  amusing  and  interesting  example  of  what  we 
call  "  inter jectors "  occurred,  as  I  copy  from  the 
original  record  of  a  sitting  with  Mrs  Piper,  by  Dr 
Hodgson,  on  22nd  June  1903.  A  member  of  the 
S.P.R.,  the  head  of  an  institution  for  mentally 
retarded  children,  was  to  have  a  sitting  on  this  day, 
but  was  unavoidably  kept  away,  and  she  sent  in  the 
questions  relating  to  some  important  school  changes 
in  contemplation,  as  her  friend  and  co-worker  had 
recently  died,  and  was  communicating  with  her 
through  Mrs  Piper. 

So,  Dr  Hodgson  sat  there  alone,  asking  Miss  B.'s 
questions,  Mrs  Piper,  while  entranced,  writing  her 
replies  automatically. 

Thyrsa,  the  deceased  school  friend,  was  communi- 
cating, and  was  called  away  for  a  moment,  leaving 
this  last  writing  : 

Thyrsa.  I  must  go  out,  I  think.  I  will  be 
back  in  a  moment,  excuse  me.  (Now  here  was  a 
chance  for  any  anxious  bystanders,  which  was  thus 
utilised.) 

Interjector.  While  that  lady  is  out,  I  presume  to 
introduce  myself  to  you.  I  am  Hud-s-o-n  (so  it  was 
written). 

Dr  Hodgson.  I  am  delighted  to  make  your  personal 
acquaintance.  Tell  us  anything  you  have  or  wish  to 
say,  kindly. 

Interjector.     I  was  a  d d  idiot. 

Dr  Hodgson.     D d  idiot  ? 

Interjector.     Are  you  Hodgson  of  Boston  ? 

Dr  Hodgson.  Yes.  I  know  who  you  are,  of 
course,  well. 

Interjector.  My  head  is  dizzy,  but  I  am  glad  to 
find  my  way  here. 

Dr  Hodgson.  I  am  glad,  and  I  shall  be  pleased 
to  greet  you,  and  welcome  all  the  help  you  can  give 
whenever  there  is  opportunity. 

Interjector.  Thank  you,  you  are  very  kind. 
I  shall  endeavour  to  help  you  often. 


328  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

Dr  Hodgson.     Amen. 

Inter jector.     You  are  on  the  right  path  ;   go  on. 
Yours  fraternally 

J.  (T.  or  J.)  HUDSON.    (Scrawl.) 

The  communicator,  Thyrsa,  then  reappeared,  and 
asked  of  Dr  Hodgson  :  "  Did  you  meet  a  gentleman  ?  " 

Dr  Hodgson.     Yes.     Mr  Hudson. 

Thyrsa.  I  don't  know  him  at  all,  but  I  saw  him 
pushing  his  way  through  the  crowd. 

Thyrsa's  communication  then  continued  ;  as  it  is 
not  relevant  to  the  interjection,  I  do  not  reproduce  it. 

There  is  a  curious  circumstance  in  the  latter  part 
above,  suggested  by  "  pushing  his  way  through  the 
crowd,"  quite  familiar  to  those  acquainted  with  these 
phenomena,  but  rather  startling  to,  and  in  fact 
usually  disbelieved  by,  most  others. 

It  is  the  dramatic  situation  at  the  other  end  of  the 
line.  Where  was  this  mysterious  invisible  crowd  ? 
The  general  impression  is  that  it  is  hanging  up  in  the 
air  overhead;  but  apparitions,  which  are  like  presences 
made  visible,  do  not  usually  appear  floating  about  in 
the  air,  but  moving  on  terra  firma.  I  shall  discuss 
this  phase  later  on,  in  connection  with  the  "  bound  " 
and  "  free  "  ether,  but  at  present  I  wish  to  cite  a 
sentence  or  two  from  the  record  of  a  Piper  sitting 
with  a  lady,  which  I  have  just  had  the  opportunity 
to  examine.  It  occurred  i8th  May  1904,  and  the 
original  automatic  writing  was  made  at  the  time. 
The  sitter  says,  I  was  in  the  midst  of  asking  a 
question,  when  Dr  Hodgson  picked  up  something 
which  had  fallen  down  in  front  of  the  table.  At  once 
the  hand  wrote,  "  I  do  wish  you  would  not  push  me 
away."  The  dramatis  persona  would  seem  to  be  ar- 
ranged as  follows: — Imperator  and  Rector  were  stand- 
ing alongside  and  supplying  matter  and  controlling 
the  arm  and  hand  to  write,  while  the  communicator 
was  standing  in  front  of  the  table  and  giving  im- 
pressions of  her  answers  to  the  control.  Dr  Hodgson 
stooped  down  precisely  where  the  communicator  was, 
and  "  pushed  "  her  away. 

In  the  P.  record  of  my  friends,  already  referred  to, 


EXPERIMENTS    CONTINUED  329 

often  a  half  dozen  or  more  were  gathered  around  the 
instrument  (the  medium),  and  each  spoke  as  occasion 
offered.  As  these  were  all  friends  and  relatives  no 
violent  interjections  appeared  until  the  final  climax, 
when  "  dead  dog  "  and  his  friends  turned  up. 

I  wish  to  call  attention  also  to  Mr  Hudson's  post 
mortem  opinion  of  his  own  published  theories,  and  his 
endorsement  of  the  categorically  opposite  work  of 
Dr  Hodgson,  "  You  are  on  the  right  path  ;  go  on." 


CHAPTER   XL 

PLANCHETTE  CASE  OF  AUTOMATIC  WRITING,  IN  WHICH 
AN  INTERJECTOR  APPEARED  TO  NARRATE  AN 
IRRELEVANT  TRAGEDY 

A  MUCH  more  tragical  interjection  occurred  in  a 
planchette  experience  of  Mr  Charles  Morris,  Vice- 
president  of  the  Philadelphia  Section  S.P.R.,  a  life 
member  and  officer  of  the  Pennsylvania  Academy  of 
the  Natural  Sciences,  a  co-worker  with  Cope  and 
Leidy,  and  who  is  also  the  author  of  many  standard 
works  on  historical  and  scientific  subjects.  These 
planchette  experiments  extended  over  many  months, 
and  dealt  with  the  phenomena  of  the  beyond,  or,  at 
least,  purported  to  do  so. 

The  events  occurred  in  1873,  but  the  narrative  is 
from  the  records  written  at  that  time,  and  without 
subsequent  alteration.  The  whole  record  was  read 
by  Mr  Morris  at  one  of  our  regular  meetings. 

As  my  purpose  at  present  is  merely  to  illustrate 
these  interjections,  I  have  asked  Mr  Morris  to  send  me 
the  extracts  which  follow,  and  which  he  has  just  made 
from  the  originals,  prefacing  it  with  the  following 
letter  to  me. 

"  PHILADELPHIA, 
"June  jth,  1906. 

"  DEAR  DR  HEYSINGER, — The  enclosed  communi- 
cation is  copied  verbatim  from  a  transcript  of  the 
original  planchette  writings,  made  immediately  after 
receiving  them,  and  still  in  the  possession  of  Mr  John 
Ford,  the  recorder. 

"The  comments  are  also  part  of  the  original  record. 
The  other  persons  present  at  the  writing  (besides 
myself)  were  Mr  John  Ford,  Miss  Annie  McDowell, 

33° 


PLANCHETTE  AUTOMATIC  WRITING    331 

who  was  the  psychic,  and  my  sister,  Mrs  C.,  who 
prefers  not  to  give  her  name. 

*'  As  respects  the  Misses  Thompson,  as  they  have 
long  been  dead,  and  as  their  share  in  the  matter  was 
simply  to  confirm  the  statements,  I  can  see  no  objec- 
tion to  the  use  of  their  names.  Sincerely  yours, 

"CHARLES  MORRIS." 

The  following  is  Mr  Morris'  copy : — 

(Extract  from  a  Record  of  Planchette  Communications 
now  in  the  Archives  of  the  Philadelphia  Branch  of 
the  Society  for  Psychical  Research 

These  communications,  it  may  be  stated,  were  not 
received  through  a  professional  medium,  but  came  to 
a  party  of  personal  friends  and  investigators.  The 
following  case  is  of  interest  from  its  strongly  evidential 
character.) 

Jany.  22,  1873.  On  this  evening  Mrs  C.,  Mr  M., 
Miss  McD.  and  myself  (Mr  F.  the  recorder)  had  been 
engaged  in  conversation,  when  someone  suggested 
that  we  try  planchette.  This  we  did,  receiving 
communications  from  alleged  friends  in  the  spirit 
world,  as  also  from  some  whom  we  did  not  know.  At 
length  the  name  of  "Mary  Frost"  was  plainly  written, 
a  name  that  was  absolutely  unknown  to  anyone 
present.  This  fact  was  announced  to  the  writer, 
when  there  came  immediately  the  following  : — 

"  Miss  Thompson  knows  the  poor  girl  who  was 
done  to  death  by  the  slanderous  tongue  of  Julia  M. 
(the  full  name  given). 

"  Q.  Do  you  mean  Miss  Adelaide  or  Miss  Annie 
Thompson  ? 

"A.  I  mean  both  Miss  Adelaide  and  Miss  Annie. 
They  were  my  best  earthly  friends.  Tell  them  that 
Adeline  (pronounced  Adeleen)  is  with  me,  and  sends 
her  best  love  to  them  and  Bud. 

"  Q.  How  were  you  slandered  ? 


332  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

"A.  By  the  charge  of  being  a  free-lover  and  other 
false  and  malicious  stories. 

"  Q.  Why  do  you  come  to  us  ? 

"A.  To  get  you  to  bear  my  message  of  love  and 
gratitude  to  my  dear  friends." 

We  asked  further  questions.  Neither  the  name 
nor  a  single  incident  connected  with  the  life  of  "  Mary 
Frost  "  was  known  to  any  of  the  persons  present,  all 
of  whom  were  mutual  friends,  nor  could  any  circum- 
stances be  recollected  that  would  give  us  any  light, 
the  name  and  subject-matter  alike  being  entirely 
unknown  to  us.  Miss  McD.  was  requested  to  send  a 
copy  of  the  communication  to  the  Misses  Thompson 
(whom  she  knew  personally).  This  copy  was  sent 
on  the  following  day,  Jany.  23,  and  on  being  read  by 
Miss  Annie  Thompson,  she  declared  that  every  state- 
ment was  literally  true  ;  that  Mary  Frost  had  died  in 
the  manner  described  ;  that  she  had  doubtless  been 
"  done  to  death "  by  malicious  slanderers,  chief 
among  whom  was  the  "Julia"  mentioned;  that 
she  was  young  and  exceedingly  beautiful ;  and 
further,  that  the  Adeline — pronounced  Adeleen — 
was  a  dead  niece  of  Miss  Annie's  and  that  "  Bud  " 
was  Adeline's  brother.  This  message  was  carried 
back  to  Miss  McD .  by  the  bearer  of  the  note  to  Miss 
Annie. 

To  make  the  statement  of  Miss  Annie  more  cir- 
cumstantial I  (Mr  F.)  accidentally  met  Miss  Adelaide 
on  Third  Street  at  or  about  the  same  hour  her  sister 
received  the  note  from  Miss  McD.  I  informed  her 
of  the  purport  of  the  communication  we  had  received 
on  the  previous  evening,  stating  the  name  and  the 
incidents  given.  Her  response  was:  "It  is  true  in 
every  particular,"  and  she  described,  as  did  Miss 
Annie,  the  relations  which  the  parties  held  towards 
each  other,  adding  that  it  was  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able tests  she  had  ever  known,  etc. 

After  the  above  described  interjection,  the  ordinary 
communications  went  on,  dealing  with  quite  different 
subjects. 

I  may  add  that  the  Misses  Thompson  referred  to 


PLANCHETTE  AUTOMATIC  WRITING    333 

were  sisters  of  the  President  of  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road Company,  and  that  Miss  McDowell  was  a  well- 
known  writer  at  the  time  on  subjects  relating  to 
women,  etc.  She  was  not  known  as  a  psychic.  Mr 
Ford  still  survives. 


CHAPTER   XLI 

EXPERIMENTS  CONTINUED  —  TRUMPET  MEDIUMS — 
FURTHER  EXPERIMENTS  IN  PREVISION — VERIDI- 
CAL DREAMS 

I  WOULD  like  to  say  something  about  so-called  trumpet 
mediums,  which  so  many  theoretically  ingenious 
sceptics  explain  by  concealed  telephones,  connecting 
wires  under  the  floor,  confederates  concealed  in  various 
places,  and  the  like,  but  of  which  sort  of  explanations 
Professor  De  Morgan  said,  "  I  am  perfectly  convinced 
that  I  have  been  seen  and  heard  in  a  manner  which 
should  make  unbelief  impossible,  things  called  spiritual 
which  cannot  be  taken  by  a  rational  being  to  be  cap- 
able of  explanation  by  imposture,  coincidence  or 
mistake.  So  far  I  feel  the  ground  firm  under  me/' 
Again,  "  The  physical  explanations  I  have  seen  are 
easy,  but  miserably  insufficient ;  the  spiritual 
hypothesis  is  sufficient,  but  ponderously  difficult. 
Time  and  thought  will  decide,  the  second  asking  the 
first  for  more  results  of  trial." 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  spiritual  hypothesis  is 
more  ponderously  difficult  than  the  theory  of  the 
ether,  or  that  of  eternity,  or  of  infinite  space,  or  of 
infinitely  diminishing  oscillating  systems  down  to 
infinity,  for  there  is  no  place,  on  a  physical  basis,  to 
stop,  and  all  the  difficulties  and  "  absurd  drafts  " 
which  science  makes  on  our  beliefs,  as  Jevons  and  Sir 
John  Herschel  tell  us,  are  surely  more  ponderously 
difficult  than  the  mere  survival  of  the  consciousness 
from  one  stage  of  existence  to  another,  especially  with 
the  phenomena  of  sleep  and  coma  before  us. 

The  first  practical  experience  with  trumpet 
mediums  I  am  giving  at  second-hand,  but  I  am 
perfectly  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  narrative,  which 

334 


EXPERIMENTS  CONTINUED  335 

was  told  to  me,  and  to  others  of  the  S.P.R.,  some 
years  ago,  and  shortly  after  the  events  occurred,  by 
the  Rev.  Thomas  W.  Illman,  then  of  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich.,  but  who  is  now  the  pastor  of  a  church  near 
Boston.  Mr  Illman  is  a  man  of  the  most  direct  and 
truthful  character,  a  scientific  clergyman, for  awonder, 
and  a  very  able  man.  Mr  Illman  was  not  and  is  not 
a  "  spiritualist,"  and  I  believe  that  this  was  his 
solitary  psychical  experience. 

One  of  his  acquaintances  in  Grand  Rapids  spoke 
to  him  of  a  "  trumpet  medium  "  who  produced  some 
singular  results,  and  who  was  then  in  Grand  Rapids 
for  a  short  time.  On  the  strength  of  this  he  called  to 
see  her,  and  was  received  in  the  parlour.  It  was  broad 
daylight,  and  the  medium  (of  some  of  whose  later 
performances  in  Philadelphia  I  shall  have  something 
to  say)  gave  him  a  trumpet,  and  told  him  to  put  the 
small  end  to  his  ear  and  listen.  The  whole  seance, 
if  it  may  be  called  such,  was  quite  informal,  as  he  told 
her  he  merely  came  to  try  to  learn  something  about  it, 
and  not  for  revelations.  No  result  followed,  and 
she  suggested  that  they  go  into  the  adjoining  entry, 
or  hall,  where  the  place  was  quieter.  The  medium 
was,  I  believe,  knitting,  or  fanning  herself,  or  some- 
thing, at  a  distance,  and  Mr  Illman  had  charge  of  the 
trumpet  entirely.  He  laid  the  big  end  across  a  chair- 
back,  pointing  to  the  front  of  the  house,  and  applied 
the  nozzle  to  his  ear,  and  waited.  The  medium  sat 
back  in  the  hall  behind  him  six  feet  or  more.  It  was  a 
warm  summer  day. 

He  listened  with  the  utmost  intentness,  and  the 
medium  finally  asked,  "  Don't  you  hear  anything  ?  " 

'  Not  a  thing,"  replied  Mr  Illman. 

"  Don't  you  hear  any  sound  at  all  ?  "  the  medium 
asked. 

"  Only  a  faint  clicking  or  ticking  in  the  metal,  at 
times." 

"  Well,  that's  it,"  replied  the  medium,  "why  don't 
you  ask  who  it  is  ?  " 

Mr  Illman  then  made  the  desired  inquiry,  and  a 
clear  silvery  voice  replied  in  his  ear,  as  if  coming  from 
the  larger  end  of  the  trumpet,  and  gave  a  name, 


336  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

which  was  unknown  to  Mr  Illman.  He  then  asked 
the  unknown  woman  what  he  had  to  do  with  her  or 
with  the  matter,  and  considerable  conversation  en- 
sued, which  I  will  briefly  condense. 

This  woman  was  the  recently  deceased  wife  of  a 
man  who  was  of  intemperate  habits,  and  had  been 
going,  more  and  more  rapidly,  since  his  wife's  death, 
on  the  road  to  ruin.  Her  object  was  to  have  Mr 
Illman  save  him  if  possible.  Mr  Illman  got  his  name, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  wife,  through  the  trumpet,  but 
asked  how  was  he  to  know  him.  She  then  asked  if 
he  did  not  recollect  that,  some  time  before,  he  had 
seen  a  man  in  a  suburban  trolley-car  under  the  in- 
fluence of  liquor,  and  had  gone  up  and  spoken  to  him, 
and  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  such  habits.  The 
clergyman  remembered.  Then  she  told  him  where 
to  find  him,  and  wanted  him  to  look  him  up  and  try 
to  get  him  to  come  to  church,  and  begged  that  he 
would  do  all  he  could  to  save  him,  which  the  clergy- 
man promised.  Mr  Illman  afterwards  hunted  up 
and  got  hold  of  this  man,  got  him  to  church,  made  a 
Christian  of  him,  reformed  him  from  his  bad  habits, 
and  he  was,  when  Mr  Illman  left  Grand  Rapids,  an 
honoured  and  upright  Christian  man. 

Some  years  later  on,  this  trumpet  medium  came, 
for  a  few  days,  to  Philadelphia,  and  took  a  room  with 
a  patient  of  Dr  Alfred  Layman,  who,  at  that  time, 
knew  nothing  of  this  clergyman's  experience,  or  of  the 
medium.  But  being  interested  in  such  matters,  and 
a  member  of  the  S.P.R.,  when  he  heard  of  the  matter 
he  undertook  to  look  into  it.  He  found  the  medium 
a  very  pleasant  woman,  and  since  then  we  have  found 
that  she  is  considered  generally  a  very  modest  and 
worthy  person  in  all  respects. 

A  mutual  medical  friend  of  myself  and  Dr  Lay- 
man, Dr  Holcomb  (a  member,  until  his  death,  of  the 
Oxford  Medical  Club),  had  died  a  short  time,  a  year 
or  two,  previously,  Dr  Layman  having  been  one  of  his 
attending  physicians,  as  well  as  his  bosom  friend  for 
years.  Of  course  time  had  intervened,  and  only  a 
memory  remained. 

But  taking  up  the  trumpet,  and  asking  how  to  use 


EXPERIMENTS  CONTINUED  337 

it,  in  full  daylight,  the  medium  told  him  to  put  the 
small  end  to  his  ear,  and  perhaps,  although  it  was  in 
the  light,  he  might  get  something.  He  had  hardly 
done  so,  when  he  heard,  "  Well !  Well!  Well !  " 
"  Who  is  this  ?  "  asked  Dr  Layman.  "  Don't  you 

know  me  ?   I  am "  then  came  a  name  which  could 

hardly  be  made  out,  it  was  so  confused.  Then  the 
doctor  turned  the  trumpet  over  to  the  medium  and 
she  couldn't  make  out  the  word.  It  was  then  sug- 
gested to  darken  the  room,  Dr  Layman  still  holding 
the  trumpet,  which  was  done  ;  and  at  once  a  string  of 
sentences  came,  with  all  the  accents  and  peculiarities 
of  Dr  Holcomb,  telling  about  his  post  mortem  experi- 
ences. I  recollect  one  characteristic  remark.  '  Why, 
Layman,  how  did  you  come  to  get  on  to  this  ?  " 
"  On  to  what  ?  "  asked  Dr  Layman.  "  Why,  this 
trumpet  business  ;  if  I  had  known  of  this,  I  would 
have  hunted  it  up  long  ago,"  or  words  to  that  effect. 

One  more  incident  out  of  the  many  trumpet  ex- 
periences which  I  have  looked  into,  and  I  am  done 
with  trumpet  phenomena,  as  in  my  own  personal 
experience  they  were  inconsiderable,  though  I  had 
such.  A  gentleman  from  the  interior  of  Vermont,  an 
old  family  friend  of  Mrs  Layman,  spent  a  day  or  two 
with  the  doctor,  and,  conversation  turning  on  the 
trumpet  matter,  the  visitor  said  he  would  like  to  try 
the  medium,  and  her  street  address  was  given  him, 
and  he  departed.  On  his  return  he  detailed  his  ex- 
periences, which  were  voluminous,  but  among  others 
gave  this  sentence  of  an  interjector  :  "  Say,  Jim,  I'll 
be  going  up  with  you  on  the  train  to-morrow,  but 
I  won't  take  up  your  tickets  this  trip."  This  was 
ostensibly  from  a  conductor  on  a  local  railroad  in 
Vermont,  which  he  was  accustomed  to  travel  over, 
the  name  given  being  that  of  a  conductor  then  de- 
ceased, and  whom  he  had  known  long  and  well,  as 
both  were  from  the  same  country  district  in  Vermont. 

I  will  now  narrate  a  veridical  dream,  which  I  have 
had  from  two  independent  participants,  both  of  the 
S.P.R. 

A  young  woman  in  this  city  was  expecting  to  be  con- 
fined with  her  first  child.  Her  mother  and  a  lady  friend 


338  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

were  both  resident  at  the  time  in  the  house.  It  was 
decided  that  if  the  baby  were  a  boy  it  should  be  called 
Leonard,  and  if  a  girl  Esther.  The  mother  had  long  been 
a  widow,  and  the  lady  friend  was  unmarried. 

A  week  before  the  anticipated  event,  the  expectant 
matron  rose  early  in  the  morning  and  came  to  her 
mother,  saying,  ''Mother,  I  have  had  a  very  strange 
dream ;  I  dreamed  that  I  was  at  a  funeral,  and  that  I 
passed  through  the  crowd  and  recognised  everybody 
there,  they  were  all  our  friends,  around  a  coffin,  but  I 
didn't  see  myself  there  at  all." 

The  mother,  to  cheer  her,  said,  "  Oh,  dreams  are 
nonsense  ;  I  had  a  dream  last  night  too,  and  I  dreamed 
that  I  had  got  a  baby,  and  that's  ridiculous."  Just  then 
the  lady  friend  called  down,  "  I  dreamed  that  you  got 
through  and  had  your  baby  all  right ;  so  don't  worry, 
but  that  it  wasn't  named  either  Leonard  or  Esther." 

These  various  dreams  were  mentioned  to  the  doctor, 
who,  to  safeguard  everything,  and  allay  anxiety,  pro- 
vided means  at  hand  for  every  possible  contingency. 
The  confinement  was  concluded  with  every  favourable 
indication ;  the  doctor  was  a  most  careful  and  skilful 
obstetrician ;  all  were  happy ;  it  was  a  splendid  girl 
baby  ;  when  suddenly,  without  warning,  a  most  terrific 
internal  haemorrhage  occurred,  which  all  means  em- 
ployed were  powerless  to  arrest,  and  almost  in  a  flash 
the  patient  was  exsanguinated,  and  with  her  dying 
throes  called  to  her  own  mother,  whispering,  "  Mother, 
take  your  baby !  "  She  took  it,  raised  it,  and  has  it 
still ;  she  is  a  lovely  girl,  now  approaching  womanhood, 
and  she  was  named,  not  Leonard,  and  not  Esther,  but 
by  the  sacred  name  of  her  dead  mother,  Bertha.  The 
facts  are  as  narrated ;  they  have  been  carefully  in- 
vestigated by  several  members  of  the  S.P.R. 


CHAPTER  XLII 

RELUCTANCE  TO  NARRATE  SUPERNORMAL  EXPERIENCES 
— WHEN  THIS  IS  REMOVED  THEY  ARE  FOUND  TO  BE 
GENERAL — MATERIALISATIONS 

Now,  regarding  materialisations  by  professional  and 
other  mediums,  the  question  is  a  broad  one,  and  perhaps 
I  would  not  now  speak  of  them  at  all,  were  it  not  for  the 
facts  already  presented  by  Sir  William  Crookes,  so  long 
ago  as  1874,  and  published  in  his  works,  of  which  he  said, 
in  his  Presidential  Address  in  1899,  before  the  British 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  already  cited 
by  me,  that  he  had  nothing  to  retract,  and  would  now 
make  his  statements  even  stronger,  if  possible. 

And  what  I  shall  say  will  not  be  to  present  phenomena 
at  all,  but  merely  to  consider  certain  matters  which  came 
properly  before  the  medical  profession. 

It  is  a  common  opinion  that  medical  men  are  atheistic, 
or  materialistic,  and,  to  judge  from  their  opinions  as 
publicly  expressed,  in  cold  blood  as  it  were,  one  would 
think  so.  But  an  amusing  incident  occurred,  some  years 
ago,  which  gave  me  quite  a  different  opinion,  and  which 
I  will  narrate  : 

A  medical  society  of  this  city,  composed,  at  the  time, 
of  more  than  two  hundred  practising  physicians,  at  one 
of  its  monthly  meetings,  held  at  Mosebach's,  had  Dr 
Bayley,  whom  I  have  so  often  mentioned,  and  who  is  an 
old  member  of  the  S.P.R.,  down  for  a  paper.  The  paper 
and  discussion  in  this  society  are  always  followed  by  a 
banquet. 

Dr  Bayley's  paper  was  on  a  psychological  subject  as 
connected  with  practical  medicine,  something  along  the 
lines  of  Dr  Schofield's  Force  of  Mind,  which  had  not  yet 
then  been  published. 

The  paper  was  coldly  received,  which  was  a  rare  thing 

339 


340  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

with  the  papers  of  Dr  Bayley,  and  those  members  who 
did  speak,  besides  myself  and  one  or  two  others  of  the 
S.P.R.,  spoke  with  sarcasm  or  ridicule.  The  mass  of 
the  doctors  present  was  as  stolid  as  though  they  were 
about  to  be  executed,  and  had  given  up  all  hope.  The 
paucity  of  discussion  left  an  aching  void  before  the 
banquet  was  ready,  and  during  the  interval  one  of  the 
professors,  at  the  time  the  dean  of  the  faculty  in  one  of 
our  medical  colleges,  who  was  a  member,  turned  to  me, 
and  .said,  "  I  don't  know  about  Dr  Bayley's  paper ; 
there  is  a  good  deal  which  I  have  never  seen  explained, 
and  I  would  like  to."  He  then  narrated  the  case  of  his 
grandmother,  whose  husband  was  the  captain  of  a 
merchant  vessel  trading  to  the  East  Indies.  Of  course 
these  events  occurred  many  years  ago,  but  he  had  heard 
it  from  first  hands,  and  the  whole  family  had  long 
accepted  its  truth. 

One  night  one  of  the  children  was  very  ill  with  croup, 
and  the  mother  (the  professor's  grandmother)  had  been 
working  with  it,  until  at  last  the  child  fell  asleep,  and  she 
lay  down,  noting  the  time,  which  was  five  minutes  before 
one  o'clock  A.M.  She  was  awakened  by  something,  and 
saw  her  husband,  in  his  sea  uniform,  standing  at  the  foot 
of  the  bed,  gravely  looking  at  her.  "  Why,  have  you 
returned  ?  "  she  cried,  springing  up,  "  I  must  get  you 
something  to  eat."  The  presence  said :  "  Margaret !  " 
and  then  slowly  faded  away.  She  noted  the  time,  and 
wrote  it  down  at  once.  Six  weeks  later  news  arrived  that 
precisely  at  this  hour  and  minute,  by  the  ship's  log,  a 
terrific  wave  had  washed  the  captain  overboard  at  sea, 
off  Rio  Janeiro,  on  the  Brazilian  coast. 

I  said  to  my  friend,  "  Will  you  tell  that  again  before 
these  doctors  ?  "  He  studied  for  a  moment,  and  then 
said,  "  I  have  told  it  to  you,  and,  as  I  am  an  honest  man, 
I  don't  see  why  I  shouldn't  tell  it  to  others."  "  Then 
tell  it,"  I  said,  and  he  did. 

He  was  the  last  man  to  lend  himself  to  superstition. 
He  was  a  noted  man,  and  President  of  the  State  Board 
of  Health.  Many  of  those  present  had  sat  under  his 
teachings,  and  his  name  was  on  their  diplomas. 

The  supper  was  half-forgotten  ;  man  after  man  arose 
to  relate  supernormal  incidents  personal  to  himself,  or 


RELUCTANCE   TO   NARRATE         341 

those  which  he  had  seen  among  his  patients,  or  which 
had  occurred  in  his  own  family,  and  before  one  narrative 
was  concluded,  a  number  were  on  their  feet,  and  more 
than  two  hours  after  the  usual  hour  for  adjournment, 
between  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the 
meeting  broke  up,  with  still  a  dozen  of  doctors  vainly 
clamouring  that  their  experiences  should  be  heard. 

What  Dr  Bayley,  now  himself  Professor  of  Neurology 
in  the  same  institution,  and  the  dean  did,  was  merely 
to  take  the  lid  off,  and  assure  a  square  deal  and  a  fair 
and  respectful  hearing.  I  have  seen  this  tried  in  other 
cases,  though  not  on  so  considerable  a  scale,  and  I  have 
never  yet  seen  it  fail. 

Scepticism  cannot  withstand  conscience,  face  to  face 
at  the  bar  of  truth.  And  so  I  feel  that  I  may  say  some- 
thing about  materialisations,  without  seeking  to  analyse 
the  bases  of  matter,  which  are  still  under  examination  by 
the  greatest  intellects  of  the  age,  and  with  results  already 
achieved  so  new,  and  so  startling,  as  to  make  any  possible 
"  spirit  materialisations  "  the  mere  a,  b,  c  of  the  series. 

Two  members  of  the  S.P.R.,  friends  of  mine,  attended, 
some  years  ago,  a  materialising  seance,  to  endeavour  to 
fathom  the  principles  involved,  or  to  detect  any  manifest 
imposture. 

They  sat  at  opposite  ends  of  the  circle,  with  the  cabinet 
midway  between,  and  perhaps  a  dozen  feet  in  front  of 
them.  The  sitters  formed  a  semicircle,  with  a  dim  red 
light  behind  as  usual,  but  with  all  objects  visible  when 
the  eyes  had  become  accustomed  to  the  light. 

Midway  in  the  semicircle  sat  a  German  doctor,  whom 
both  knew.  A  white  figure  advanced  from  the  cabinet 
straight  forward  towards  the  doctor,  who  rose  saying, 
"  Do  you  want  me  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  came  the  sibilant  whisper,  and  he  stepped 
forward  to  interview  the  visitant.  This  brought  the 
line  of  sight  of  my  two  friends  diagonally  across  the 
space  between  the  figure  and  the  cabinet.  The  form  in 
white  was  perhaps  ten  feet  from  the  cabinet.  All  the 
sitters  were  looking  at  the  softly  conversing  figures 
when  suddenly  a  "swish"  was  heard,  and  the  white 
figure  seemed  to  flow  down  to  the  floor,  making  a 
sort  of  white  puddle,  and  disappeared.  The  doctor, 


342  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

with  a  startled  cry,  said,  "  Mein  Gott,  did  you  see 
dat  ?  " 

My  two  friends  of  the  S.P.R.  are  sure  that  the  figure 
did  not  return  to  the  cabinet  across  their  line  of  vision. 

For  myself,  I  did  once  see  and  feel  a  materialised  white 
form  dissolve  and  disappear  from  the  strongest  grasp  I 
could  hold  it  by,  with  the  same  "  swish,"  and  slide  down 
over  the  floor,  or  else  into  the  distant  cabinet,  in  a 
manner  most  unaccountable  to  me,  and  to  the  other 
observers. 

This  occurred  with  another  medium,  of  whom  I  shall 
have  something  to  say  later  on. 

The  prevalent  opinion  regarding  the  atheism  or 
materialism  of  the  medical  profession,  I  know  from  my 
own  investigations  and  conversations  with  hundreds  of 
physicians,  is  not  correct ;  and  in  corroboration  of  this 
statement  I  cite  the  fact  that  Ridgway's  Magazine  for 
9th  February  1907  published  an  abstract  of  the  answers 
to  a  like  inquiry  which  had  been  sent  out  to  one  thousand 
physicians.  The  question  was,  "  Do  you  believe  in 
immortality  ?  "  Six  hundred  replies  were  received 
from  as  many  physicians  all  over  the  country,  and  only 
twelve  per  cent,  of  these  replies  were  in  the  negative. 

I  am  satisfied  that  if  the  question  had  been  more 
properly  put,  as  involving  survival  after  death,  instead 
of  "  immortality,"  which  is  a  matter  for  the  future,  if 
at  all,  while  survival  after  death  is  a  matter  of  demon- 
stration in  this  life,  the  affirmative  replies  would  have 
been  nearly  .unanimous. 

In  The  Journal  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research, 
for  the  month  of  May  1908,  is  an  apparitional  case  com- 
municated by  Professor  Barrett,  which  is  especially 
interesting  in  view  of  the  comments  of  this  eminent  man 
of  science.  The  case  is  entitled,  "  Apparition  seen  soon 
after  death,"  and  occurred  during  the  summer  of  1907. 
Citing  only  the  significant  facts,  the  gentleman  whose 
apparition  appeared  to  a  young  girl  in  a  convent  school 
on  the  Continent  shot  himself  in  London  on  29th  May 
1907.  The  young  girl,  named  Minnie,  who  was  not  a 
Catholic,  was  his  godchild,  to  whom  he  bequeathed  an 
annuity.  Her  mother  resided  in  London  and  did  not 
write  to  her  daughter  until  nearly  a  week  after  the 


RELUCTANCE   TO   NARRATE          343 

death  of  the  gentleman,  whom  Minnie  had  always  called 
"  uncle,"  and  to  whom  she  was  much  attached.  In  the 
letter,  moreover,  the  mother  merely  stated  that  her 
uncle  had  died  suddenly  on  the  preceding  Wednesday, 
and  had  been  buried  on  Saturday. 

Quoting  now  from  the  mother's  narrative,  "  On  the 
Saturday  morning  she  was  in  the  church  with  Mere 
Columba.  She  was  up  a  short  ladder  dusting  a  statue 
when  she  looked  round  and  saw  one  of  her  school  friends, 
whom  she  knew  to  be  away  at  the  time,  coming  towards 
her.  She  felt  great  surprise  and  almost  shock  at  seeing 
her  friend  in  nun's  dress.  The  young  nun  came  up  to 
her,  beckoned  to  her  to  come  down.  .  .  .  The  nun  then 
took  her  by  the  arm  and  led  her  away  through  a  side 
door  of  the  church,  where  she  had  never  been  before,  and 
through  the  nuns'  refectory,  where  no  one  is  allowed, 
and  thence  into  their  private  chapel,  and  brought  her  to 
one  of  the  pews.  She  can  describe  everything,  even  one 
of  the  pictures  on  the  walls  of  the  refectory,  which  ap- 
peared to  have  several  pieces  of  red  tape  hanging  from 
a  figure  in  the  picture,  and  which  she  had  not  seen  before, 
but  subsequently  was  found  to  have  correctly  described. 
She  knelt  and  felt  someone  near  her  :  she  looked  up  and, 
she  says,  there  was  Uncle  Oldham  standing  by  her.  Her 
first  thoughts  were,  mother  never  told  me  he  was  coming 
over  to  Belgium.  But  she  felt  something  was  wrong, 
his  face  bore  such  terrible  suffering.  He  came  up  and 
placed  his  hand  in  hers  and  said  :  '  Minnie  !  I  have 
done  a  terrible  thing.  I  have  taken  my  own  life  because 
a  woman  would  not  love  me,  and  I  am  suffering  much. 
I  never  believed  what  I  ought  to  have  on  earth.  Pray 
for  me.'  He  told  her  he  was  in  need  of  earthly  prayers  ; 
they  helped  him.  She  then  prayed,  and  after  that  the 
same  nun  came  and  led  her  out  of  church  and  she  found 
herself  on  the  ladder  dazed.  She  managed  to  get  down, 
when  Mere  Columba  noticed  she  looked  very  white  and 
ill,  took  her  away,  and  she  lay  down  for  some  hours. 
Since  then  the  figure  has  appeared  to  her  every  morning, 
about  four  or  five,  but  only  momentarily.  He  has  never 
spoken  again,  but  each  time  his  expression  changed  and 
a  happier  look  came  in  his  face.  Her  words  were : 
4  Oh,  mother,  I  have  prayed  so,  I  want  to  forget  the 


344  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

awful  look  on  his  face  when  I  first  saw  him.  That  look 
is  going  now.'  He  came  to  her  as  usual  the  day  she 
left,  but  nothing  has  been  seen  here  in  London.  The 
child  seems  to  take  it  very  calmly.  What  worried  her 
so  terribly  was  not1  knowing  the  truth.  She  dared  not 
write  to  ask  me  about  it,  as  all  their  letters  are  read,  and 
so  she  had  to  wait  until  she  came  home.  The  phantom 
told  her  everything  :  all  /  had  intended  she  should  never 
know.  There  is  no  one  over  there  who  knows  anything 
about  either  him  or  ourselves.  Each  morning  between 
the  two  bells  he  stands  by  her  bedside  and  makes  her 
understand^  he  is  happier,  but  he  never  speaks  now." 

To  this  was  appended  a  further  paperfrom  the  mother's 
hand,  and  also  a  description  written  by  Minnie  herself. 
Professor  Barrett  comments  on  this  case  as  follows  : — 

"  The  following  case  is  in  my  opinion  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  impressive  of  the  many  cases  of  phantasms 
of  the  dead  that  have  ever  come  under  my  notice. 
Knowing  as  I  do  the  young  percipient,  and  her  absolute 
truthfulness,  transparent  sincerity  and  bright  intelli- 
gence, I  am  convinced  of  the  substantial  accuracy  of  the 
story  she  has  told.  Moreover,  the  fact  of  her  being 
secluded  in  a  convent  school  when  the  apparition 
occurred — a  place  in  which  no  news  of  the  outside  world 
is  allowed  to  percolate,  except  through  letters  from 
relatives  which  are  previously  opened  and  read — this  in 
itself  renders  the  case  almost  an  ideal  one,  and  it  would 
have  been  wholly  so  had  Mere  Columba  lived  a  little 
longer,  so  that  her  confirmation  of  the  story  and  date  of 
the  apparition  had  been  obtained.  Nor  do  I  see  how 
any  explanation  of  the  case  can  be  based  on  telepathy 
from  the  living,  except  by  making  assumptions  which 
are  more  difficult  to  accept  than  the  hypothesis  of  the 
conscious  survival  of  the  personality  for  (at  any  rate) 
a  certain  period  after  the  death  of  the  body." 

In  Chapter  xxxiii.  of  this  book,  I  quoted  a  letter  of 
T.  Adolphus  Trollope  to  the  Dialectical  Society,  stating 
the  opinion  of  "  Bosco,  one  of  the  greatest  professors  of 
legerdemain  ever  known,"  who  scouted  the  possibility 
of  such  phenomena  as  Trollope  had  seen  and  described, 
as  being  performed  by  such  means. 

He  has  since  published  a  series  of  autobiographical 


RELUCTANCE   TO    NARRATE          345 

sketches  in  two  volumes  entitled:  "What  I  Remember," 
by  Thomas  Adolphus  Trollope,  1890,  which  describes 
many  interesting  psychical  experiments  and  phenomena 
in  the  author's  experience.  He  narrates  one  of  these  as 
follows  : — 

"  I  will  place  on  record  a  singular  story  of  a  so-called 
supernatural  occurrence  which  happened  within  her 
experience.  I  premise  that  she  was,  in  my  opinion,  as 
accurately  truthful  a  person  as  ever  spoke ;  also  that 
she  was  markedly  calm  by  nature,  and  especially  little 
liable  to  be  made  the  fool  of  purposed  deception,  or  of 
any  tricks  of  her  own  imagination. 

"  Although  I  remember  the  story  very  well,  I  have 
thought,  when  I  set  about  to  write  it,  that  it  would  be 
well  to  make  sure  of  my  accuracy.  And  with  this  view  I 
have  written  to  the  lady  in  question,  and  have  received 
so  accurate  and  lucid  a  statement  of  the  facts  that  I 
think  I  cannot  do  better  than  give  them  in  her  own 
words. 

'  I  enclose  an  account  of  the  circumstance  of  my 
childhood  about  which  you  have  inquired,  such  as  I  have 
heard  it  frequently  stated  by  my  mother.  I  was  between 
five  and  six  years  old,  and  was  sitting  one  winter  evening 
at  dinner,  with  my  father  and  mother.  Suddenly 
looking  up,  my  mother  perceived  that  I  was  deadly  pale 
and  shivering.  Much  alarmed,  she  asked  what  was  the 
matter,  "  Nothing,"  I  answered,  "  only  the  lady  who 
passed  behind  me  just  now  smiled  and  blew  upon  me, 
and  made  me  cold  all  over."  To  the  various  questions 
put  to  me  by  my  father  and  mother  I  replied,  without 
any  signs  of  fear  or  wonder,  that  the  lady  had  come  in  at 
the  door  behind  my  back  on  the  left  and  had  gone  out 
at  the  window  opposite  (which  opened  on  to  a  balcony)  ; 
how  I  could  not  tell,  for  neither  had  been  opened  ;  that, 
though  she  crossed  the  room  behind  me,  I  saw  her  quite 
distinctly.  I  described  her  as  tall  and  slender,  with  dark 
hair,  dressed  in  a  gray  silk  dress,  and  carrying  a  lighted 
candle.  The  pallor  and  fits  of  shivering  lasted  a  day  or 
two,  and  then  no  more  was  said  or  thought  about  the 
matter. 

'  Some  months  later,  a  young  gentleman  called 
to  see  my  parents.  He  had  been  a  great  favourite 


346  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

and  a  frequent  visitor  ;  but  had  not,  to  their  surprise, 
made  his  appearance  latterly.  On  his  entering  the 
drawing-room,  my  mother  noticed  his  sad  and  altered 
features,  and  his  mourning  garments  ;  and  inquired 
at  once  what  had  happened,  and  why  he  had  stayed 
away  so  long  ? 

"  '  "  Have  you  not  heard,"  he  said,  "  that  my 
beloved  mother  died  suddenly  some  months  back  ? 
I  was  so  broken-hearted  that  I  left  Paris  after  the 
funeral,  and  have  been  travelling  in  Italy  to  try  to  get 
over  my  trouble.  But  I  felt  my  earliest  visit  on  re- 
turning home  must  be  to  you,  as  I  wished  to  tell  you 
that  my  dear  mother's  last  thought  and  words  were 
about  your  little  girl." 

" ' "  How  so,  since  she  had  never  seen  her^?  " 
asked  my  mother. 

"  ' "  No,  but  you  are  aware  how  fond  I  am  of  your 
child.  And  I  had  often  and  often  spoken  about  her 
to  my  mother,  and  had  promised  I  would  bring  the 
little  girl  to  see  her. 

" '  "  On  that  day  we  had  just  been  summoned  to 
our  dinner,  when  my  mother  walked  into  the  dining- 
room  from  her  own  room  where  she  had  been  dressing, 
and  on  seeing  me  said,  '  When  are  you  going  to  bring 
little  Clara  to  see  me,  Henri  ?  '  Before  I  had  time  to 
answer  her,  she  suddenly  dropped  the  light  she  was 
carrying  and  fell  back  in  what  seemed  a  swoon,  but 
was  in  reality  death  from  aneurism." 

"  '  My  mother  with  some  agitation  asked  the  date 
and  hour  of  the  catastrophe,  and  also  inquired  what 
were  the  appearance  and  costume  of  the  deceased 
lady.  All  these  points  absolutely  coincided  with  the 
extraordinary  vision  I  had  had.' " 

Mr  Trollope  also  narrates  a  case  frequently  re- 
peated to  his  wife  by  an  aged  man,  the  perfect 
veracity  and  accuracy  of  whose  statements  she  always 
felt  to  be  absolutely  unimpeachable.  When  he  was  a 
child  about  eight  or  nine  years  old,  he  was  living  with 
his  parents  in  Dublin,  and  his  grandmother,  Mrs 
Lawless,  was  living  a  few  miles  distant  from  Dublin. 
The  boy  returning  from  school  ran  upstairs  to  the 
drawing-room  and  asked,  "  Where  is  grandmamma?  " 


RELUCTANCE   TO   NARRATE          347 

His  mother  replied  that  she  was  at  her  own  home, 
but  the  boy  replied,  "  No  !  she  is  not  at  home,  but 
here."  His  mother  said,  "  How  could  she  be  here  ?  " 
But  the  boy  answered,  "  She  is  here,  mamma,  for 
I  have  just  seen  her  on  the  stairs."  He  insisted  that 
his  statement  was  correct.  The  old  lady's  figure  and 
clothing  were  both  of  a  remarkable  character,  the 
latter  a  rich  old  brocaded  flowered-silk  gown,  and  old- 
fashioned  high-heeled  shoes.  The  boy  was  always 
a  great  favourite  of  his  grandmother.  The  corro- 
boration  was  found  when  it  was  later  discovered  that 
"  old  Mrs  Lawless  had  died  exactly  at  the  moment 
when  her  grandson  saw,  or  supposed  himself  to  have 
seen,  her." 

I  shall  cite  one  more  case,  a  brief  one,  which  is  used 
as  a  part  of  the  veridical  evidence  in  a  paper  written 
by  Frederic  W.  H.  Myers,  the  distinguished  author 
of  "  Human  Personality,"  and  published  in  the 
Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research  for 
July  1892,  under  the  title,  "  Of  Indications  of  Con- 
tinued Terrene  Knowledge  on  the  Part  of  Phantasms 
of  the  Dead."  At  this  period  the  author  had  just 
been  President  of  the  S.P.R.,  following  Professor 
William  James,  Professor  of  Philosophy  in  Harvard 
University,  and  Sir  William  Crookes,  F.R.S.,  and 
immediately  preceding  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  F.R.S.,  and 
Professor  W.  F.  Barrett,  F.R.S.  of  Dublin. 

The  narrative  is  a  simple  one,  which  is  the  sort 
which  I  prefer,  for  the  lack  of  complexity  cuts  out 
much  extraneous  matter  which  is  eagerly  seized  upon 
by  many  to  complicate  the  problems  and  disturb  the 
judgment.  In  this  narrative,  which  is  abundantly 
corroborated,  as  will  be  seen,  the  events  described 
are  either  true,  or  they  are  falsifications  or  mistakes. 
If  they  are  falsifications,  then  who  were  the  conspira- 
tors, and  what  was  the  motive  ?  If  they  are  mistakes, 
and  if  human  evidence  is  ever  of  any  use  anywhere, 
then  what  were  the  mistakes  possible  to  be  made  in  so 
broadly-drawn  and  categorical  a  narrative  ?  While, 
if  the  facts  as  narrated  are  true,  then  the  case  is 
established. 

There  are  perhaps  a  dozen  apparitional  cases  em- 


348  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

braced  in  this  paper,  but  the  one  I  have  chosen  to 
copy  out  is  the  following  : — 

Says  Mr  Myers,  "  We  owe  this  case  to  the  kindness 
of  Lady  Gore  Booth,  from  whom  I  first  heard  the 
account  by  word  of  mouth.  Her  son  (then  a  school- 
boy aged  ten)  was  the  percipent,  and  her  youngest 
daughter,  then  aged  fifteen,  also  gives  a  firsthand 
account  of  the  incident  as  follows  : — 

" '  LISSADELL,  SLIGO, 
" ( February  1891. 

"  '  On  the  loth  of  April,  1889,  at  about  half-pastnine 
o* clock,  my  youngest  brother  and  I  were  going  down 
a  short  flight  of  stairs  leading  to  the  kitchen,  to  fetch 
food  for  my  chickens,  as  usual.  We  were  about  half 
way  down,  my  brother  a  few  steps  in  advance  of  me, 
when  he  suddenly  said — "  Why,  there's  John 
Blaney,  I  didn't  know  he  was  in  the  house  !  "  John 
Blaney  was  a  boy  who  lived  not  far  from  us,  and  he 
had  been  employed  in  the  house  as  hall-boy  not  long 
before.  I  said  that  I  was  sure  it  was  not  he  (for  I 
knew  he  had  left  some  months  previously  on  account 
of  ill-health),  and  looked  down  the  passage,  but  saw 
no  one.  The  passage  was  a  long  one,  with  a  rather 
sharp  turn  in  it,  so  we  ran  quickly  down  the  last  few 
steps,  and  looked  round  the  corner,  but  nobody  was 
there,  and  the  only  door  he  could  have  gone  through 
was  shut.  As  we  went  upstairs  my  brother  said, 
"  How  pale  and  ill  John  looked,  and  why  did  he 
stare  so  ?  "  I  asked  what  he  was  doing.  My  brother 
answered  that  he  had  his  sleeves  tucked  up,  and  was 
wearing  a  large  green  apron,  such  as  the  footmen 
always  wear  at  their  work.  An  hour  or  two  after- 
wards I  asked  my  maid  how  long  John  Blaney  had 
been  back  in  the  house  ?  She  seemed  much  surprised 
and  said  "  Didn't  you  hear,  miss,  that  he  died  this 
morning  ?  "  On  inquiry  we  found  that  he  had  died 
about  two  hours  before  my  brother  saw  him.  My 
mother  did  not  wish  that  my  brother  should  be  told 
this,  but  he  heard  of  it  somehow,  and  at  once  declared 
that  he  must  have  seen  his  ghost. 

"  '  MABEL  OLIVE  GORE  BOOTH.' 


RELUCTANCE   TO    NARRATE          349 

"  '  The  actual  percipient's  independent  account  is 
as  follows  : — 

"  '  March  1901. 

"  'We  were  going  downstairs  to  get  food  for  Mabel's 
fowl,  when  I  saw  John  Blaney  walking  round  the 
corner.  I  said  to  Mabel,  "That's  John  Blaney!" 
but  she  could  not  see  him.  When  we  came  up  after- 
wards we  found  he  was  dead.  He  seemed  to  me  to 
look  rather  ill.  He  looked  yellow  ;  his  eyes  looked 
hollow,  and  he  had  a  green  apron  on. 

"  '  MORDAUNT  GORE  BOOTH.' 

" '  We  have  received  the  following  Confirmation 
of  the  date  of  death. 

"  '  I  certify  from  the  parish  register  of  deaths  that 
John  Blaney  (Dunfore)  was  interred  on  the  I2th  day 
of  April  1889,  having  died  on  the  loth  day  of 
April,  1889.  P.  J.  SHEMAGHS,  C.C. 

"  '  The  Presbytery,  Ballingal,  Sligo, 
"  c  loth  February  1891.' 

"  '  Lady  Gore  writes  : 

"  '  May  3is2,  1890. 

"  '  When  my  little  boy  came  upstairs  and  told  us 
he  had  seen  John  Blaney,  we  thought  nothing  of  it  till 
some  hours  after,  when  we  heard  that  he  was  dead. 
Then  for  fear  of  frightening  the  children,  1  avoided  any 
allusion  to  what  he  had  told  us,  and  asked  everyone 
else  to  do  the  same.  Probably  by  now  he  has  for- 
gotten all  about  it,  but  it  certainly  was  very  remark- 
able, especially  as  only  one  child  saw  him,  and  they 
were  standing  together.  The  place  where  he  seems  to 
have  appeared  was  in  the  passage  outside  the  pantry 
door,  where  John  Blaney's  work  always  took  him. 
My  boy  is  a  very  matter-of-fact  sort  of  boy,  and  I 
never  heard  of  his  having  any  other  hallucination. 

"  '  G.  GORE  BOOTH.'  " 


CHAPTER   XLIII 

SOME     POSSIBLE     EXPLANATION     OF     MATERIALISING 

PHENOMENA 

REGARDING  these  materialisations,  the  last  word  has 
by  no  means  been  spoken.  It  has  been  asked,  and  by 
scientific  sceptics  most  of  all,  where  could  these 
discarnate  spirits  get  the  material,  either  out  of  the 
atmosphere,  or  out  of  void  space,  wherewith  to 
materialise  ?  and  the  question  has  been  deemed  to  be 
without  a  scientific  answer.  We  know  the  presence 
and  hence  the  density  of  the  atmosphere,  and  we 
know  that  it  would  deplete  the  contents  of  a  public 
hall  to  build  up  even  a  small-sized  ghost  into  a 
corresponding  bodily  weight.  Some  of  this  material 
is  said  to  come  from  the  medium,  some  from  the  aura 
of  those  persons  present,  and  some  from  the  atmo- 
sphere ;  but,  in  fact,  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  all 
of  these  together  could  furnish  the  entire  material 
required  for  an  actual  materialisation. 

But  our  popular  conceptions  of  "  void  space  "  are 
perhaps  the  furthest  from  the  truth  of  all  the  erroneous 
popular  conceptions  held  concerning  any  physical 
substance  whatever. 

And  even  scientific  specialists  do  not  seem  to  form 
any  better  conception  of  the  practical  contents  of  so- 
called  void  space  than  do  ordinary  laymen.  Yet  they 
profess  to  learnedly  discuss  and  deal  with  these 
contents,  whenever  they  deal  with  the  phenomena  of 
light,  radiant  heat,  electricity  and  magnetism,  which 
require  for  their  transmission  and  manifestation,  and 
for  their  generation  as  well,  a  density  for  the  universal 
content  of  this  so-called  void  space  almost  transcend- 
ing imagination. 

The  transmission  of  light  alone,  for  example,  re- 

350 


SOME   POSSIBLE  EXPLANATION       351 

quires  a  substance  so  dense  or  rigid  that,  in  the  mass, 
face  to  face,  as  it  were,  it  will  quiver  from  a  state  of 
absolute  quiescence  into  a  velocity  or  rapidity  up  to  at 
least  1,000,000,000,000  oscillations  in  each  second  of 
time.  It  requires  that  rapidity  to  produce  the  sensa- 
tion of  violet  light  on  the  retina,  and,  in  case  of  the 
sun,  that  this  oscillation  shall  be  continuous  along  a 
line  nearly  a  hundred  million  miles  long  ;  for  us  to  see 
the  planet  Neptune  requires  that  the  line  from  the  sun 
to  that  planet  as  a  relay  station  must  be  three  thou- 
sand million  miles  long,  and  as  long  again  for  the  wave 
of  reflected  light  to  travel  back  to  our  telescopes  again. 

To  travel  one  hundred  million  miles  requires  about 
eight  minutes,  yet  there  are  visible,  nay,  very  con- 
spicuous, stars  whose  light,  we  know,  has  taken  many 
thousands  of  years  to  travel  across  space  to  reach  us, 
as  it  does. 

Now,  what  is  the  significance  of  all  this  ?  Who 
ever  thinks  of  it  at  all,  while  he  thinks  of  void  space 
all  the  time  ? 

The  significance  lies  in  the  fact  that  to  vibrate  at 
such  a  rate  the  void  space  must  have  something  in  it  to 
vibrate,  and  the  faster  the  quiver  the  stiff er  the  sub- 
stance that  quivers.  That  the  quivering  is  always 
the  same  demonstrates  that  the  mass  of  that  which 
fills  void  space,  and  does  the  quivering,  must  be  of  a 
corresponding  resistance,  and  hence  of  equal  density 
and  rigidity. 

In  other  words,  it  acts  under  impulses  like  a  tuning 
fork.  Now  as  you  shorten  the  legs  of  the  tuning  fork 
you  raise  the  pitch,  which  means  that  you  increase  the 
rapidity  of  oscillation. 

The  ether  is  a  tuning  fork,  excepting  that  it  deals 
with  the  ethereal  light,  etc.,  instead  of  with  atmo- 
spheric sound,  and  the  incandescence  of  the  sun's 
photosphere  starts  the  oscillation  at  the  solar  end,  and 
we  feel  and  see  it  as  heat  and  light,  at  our  end  of  the 
line  ;  if  we  did  not  catch  and  stop  it,  it  would  go  on 
through  space  indefinitely,  as  does  all  this  radiant 
energy  which  misses  the  planets,  which,  in  fact,  catch 
only  about  one  two  hundred  and  thirty  millionths  of 
what  the  sun  sends  out. 


352  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

We  know  the  vibrating  rate  of  the  ether  for  light, 
hence  we  can  know  its  density  or  stiffness,  or  rigidity, 
which  must  be  very  great. 

Why  then  do  we  not  feel  it  ?  Why,  when  we 
swing  our  arm  around,  do  we  only  feel  the  weak 
resistance  of  the  atmosphere  instead  of  the  vast 
resistance  of  the  ether  of  all  space  ? 

Simply,  because  the  ether,  while  the  substance  of 
all  substances  in  actual  density  and  resistance,  lacks 
one,  and,  so  far  as  we  know,  only  one,  property  of 
matter,  and  that  is  gravity.  The  attraction  of  gravita- 
tion does  not  immediately  affect  the  ether  to  any  con- 
siderable extent  at  all.  The  fact  that  light  requires 
time  for  its  transmission  shows  some  action  of  agglu- 
tination perhaps,  but  to  our  own  physical  tests  it  is 
without  gravity.  Hence  a  physical  body  moves 
through  it  without  resistance,  simply  because  the 
free  ether  passes  through  all  physical  bodies  some- 
what as  a  fish  net  passes  through  water,  and  we  note 
no  resistance,  and  hence  we  say,  "  void  space." 

Sir  Tohn  Herschel.  in  his  paper  on  Light,  has  given  us 
a  table  of  the  density  of  this  ether,  which  results,  of 
course,  can  be  found  in  any  scientific  worlf  dealing  with 
these  subjects.  He  shows  that  a  cubic  inch  of  this 
.ether,  if  confined,  and  relieved  from  outside  pressure, 
would  have  a  bursting  pressure  l  pi  "mote  thai!  seventeen 
°f  ounds  to  ie  suare  inci._  "- 


As  we  know  that  the  density  is  proportionate  to  the 
bursting  strain,  and  that  a  cubic  inch  of  atmospheric  air, 
under  the  same  conditions,  would  have  a  bursting  strain 
of  only  fifteen  pounds  to  the  square  inch,  we  can  form 
some  idea  of  what  this  ether  is.  We  cannot,  of  course, 
shut  up  this  ether  into  a  cubic  inch,  for  it  passes  through 
all  physical  restraints,  nor  can  we  relieve  the  outside 
pressure  of  the  ether  which  balances  our  cubic  inch,  so 
that  we  know  that  this  universal  ether  fills  all  space  with 
an  equal  density,  and  that  the  physical  universe  owes 
its  existence,  and  all  living  forms  owe  theirs  as  well,  to 
the  solitary  fact,  that  the  omnipresent  ether  practically 
lacks  the  attraction  of  gravitation. 

And  Sir  John  Herschel  adds,  "  Do  what  we  will  — 
adopt  what  hypothesis  we  please  —  there  is  no  escape, 


SOME   POSSIBLE   EXPLANATION       353 

in  dealing  with  the  phenomena  of  light,  from  these 
gigantic  numbers  ;  or  from  the  conception  of  enormous 
physical  force  in  perpetual  exertion  at  every  point  through 
all  the  immensity  of  space." 

See  also  Lord  Kelvin  on  "  Ether  and  Gravitational 
Matter  through  Infinite  Space"  (Smithsonian  Report, 
1901),  pp.  215-230. 

It  is  this  ether  under  strain  which  gives  us  the  phe- 
nomena of  electricity  and  magnetism.  It  interpenetrates 
all  matter,  and  when  enclosed  in  matter  it  becomes 
"  bound  ether."  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  in  his  "  Modern  Views 
of  Electricity,"  devotes  much  space  to  bound  ether ; 
and  matter,  our  own  crude  matter,  acts  on  the  ether  as 
soon  as  its  vibrating  particles  reach  the  period  of  ethereal 
oscillation.  This  is  the  origin  of  our  light  and  heat ; 
that  is  why  waves  of  ether  give  your  skin  the  sensation 
of  heat,  when  held  opposite  a  red-hot  iron  rod.  That  is 
how  the  sun  gives  us  light  and  heat.  Says  Sir  Oliver 
Lodge,  "an  atom  imbedded  in  ether  is  vibrating  and 
sending  out  waves  in  all  directions." 

"  Now,  through  free  ether,"  he  says,  "  all  kinds  of 
waves  appear  to  travel  at  the  same  rate  ;  not  so  through 
bound  ether."  On  account  of  this  fact  we  get  our 
phenomena  of  refraction,  aberration  and  dispersion. 

So  we  learn,  to  again  quote  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  and  I 
know  of  no  higher  authority,  "  the  fact  is  certain  that 
ether  is  somehow  affected  by  the  immediate  neighbour- 
hood of  gross  matter,  and  it  appears  to  be  concentrated 
inside  it  to  an  extent  depending  on  the  density  of  the 
matter.  Fresnel's  hypothesis  is  that  the  ether  is  really 
denser  inside  gross  matter,  and  that  there  is  a  sort  of 
attraction  between  ether  and  the  molecules  of  matter 
which  results  in  an  agglomeration  or  binding  of  some 
ether  round  each  atom,  and  that  this  additional  or  bound 
ether  belongs  to  the  matter,  and  travels  about  with  it." 

It  is  true,  as  I  have  stated,  that  free  ether  does  not 
possess  attraction  of  gravitation,  and  hence  possesses 
no  "  weight,"  but  we  do  not  know  what  gravitation  is, 
or  why  some  things  have  it  and  others  do  not,  or  whether 
what  does  not  have  it  at  one  time  may  not  have  it  at 
another.  We  know  that  the  gravitational  and  non- 
gravitational  substances,  as  I  have  just  cited,  tend  to 


354  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

agglomerate  with  and  mutually  affect  each  other,  and 
that  if  even  the  most  minute  portion  of  such  ether  should 
suddenly  be  associated  in  such  a  way  as  to  acquire  the 
energy  of  gravitation,  or  anything  akin  to  it,  we  would 
have  a  solidity,  a  ponderosity,  and  a  physical  momentum 
sufficient  to  move  the  heaviest  bodies  about  like  play- 
things, and  penetrate,  it  might  be,  solid  matter,  like 
cannon-balls,  without  leaving  a  trace  behind. 

Nikola  Tesla,  so  long  ago  as  1891,  foresaw  that  this 
prodigious  mass  and  power  of  the  ether  (see  his  Lectures 
before  the  American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers) 
will  soon  be  utilised,  in  a  strictly  normal  way,  as  a  source 
of  ordinary  motive  power.  We  are,  indeed,  doing  this 
now,  excepting  that  we  start  the  process  at  second 
hand  and,  by  the  use  of  coal  or  water-power  as  an  inter- 
mediary (for  these  are  both  the  direct  products,  through 
solar  light  and  heat,  of  the  energy  of  the  ether),  from 
eddies  along  the  shore,  as  it  were,  instead  of  a  direct 
appeal  to  the  great  universal  source,  the  eternally  acting 
ethereal  motive  power  of  space.  Said  Tesla,  "  There  is 
a  possibility  of  obtaining  energy  not  only  in  the  form  of 
light,  but  of  motive  power,  and  energy  of  any  other  form, 
in  some  more  direct  way  from  the  medium.  The  time 
will  be  when  it  will  be  accomplished,  and  the  time  has 
come  when  one  may  utter  such  words  before  an  en- 
lightened audience  without  being  considered  a  visionary. 
We  are  whirling  through  endless  space  with  inconceivable 
speed,  all  around  us  everything  is  spinning,  everything 
is  moving,  everywhere  is  energy.  There  must  be 
some  way  of  availing  ourselves  of  this  energy  more 
directly." 

If  invention,  as  I  have  endeavoured  to  show  in  a 
previous  chapter,  comes  from  the  supernormal,  which 
is  the  discovering  and  creating  realm,  then  it  may  well 
be  that  in  these  supernormal  regions  this  very  discovery 
has  long  been  made  which  we  have,  as  yet,  been  vainly 
seeking  here. 

Franklin,  whose  place  at  the  very  head  of  electrical 
discoverers  is  now  secure,  by  such  an  inspiration,  drew 
down  from  the  sky  this  very  electrical  energy  at  first- 
hand— true,  'twas  in  a  small  way,  but  when  he  was 
asked,  "  Of  what  use  is  all  this  kite-flying  ?  "  he  could 


SOME   POSSIBLE   EXPLANATION      355 

respond  with  his  immortal  reply,  "  Of  what  use  is  a 
baby  ?  " 

In  the  light  of  our  recent  discoveries  in  the  fields  of 
radio-activity,  of  the  X-rays,  of  wireless  telegraphy, 
and  of  the  electron  theory  of  matter,  it  can  hardly  be 
considered  bold,  to-day,  to  ask  for  a  suspension  of 
judgment  against  a  priori  attacks  on  possible  explana- 
tions of  such  occult  phenomena  as  once  were  relegated 
to  the  devil,  then  to  discredited  history,  and  finally  to 
superstition,  but  which,  notwithstanding,  have  lived  on, 
and  grown  and  strengthened,  for,  as  Sir  William  Crookes 
has  said,  the  Vision  of  Nature  grows  more  august  with 
every  veil  that  is  lifted. 

Science  is  clearly  moving  in  the  direction  of  the 
spiritual ;  nothing  can  be  more  certain.  In  every 
thunderstorm  one  may  see  the  almost  resistless  power 
of  ether  under  strain,  bound  up  with,  and  binding  in, 
the  nebulous  vapours,  dissipated,  diaphanous,  intangible, 
scarcely  the  skeletons  of  form,  gathered  from  stream 
and  sea,  empty  and  idle,  till "  materialised  "  by  the  ether. 

Granting  a  discarnate  spirit,  let  us  say  such  "  a 
specialised  and  individualised  form  of  that  Infinite  and 
Eternal  Energy,"  which  Herbert  Spencer,  in  his  last 
paper  conceded  the  "  Consciousness "  to  be,  and  of 
which  Spencer  "  inferred,"  without  telling  us  why, 
"  that  at  death  its  elements  lapse  into  the  infinite  and 
Eternal  Energy  whence  they  were  derived  "  (and  which 
seems  to  me  as  much  of  a  non  sequitur  as  that  a  baby, 
when  it  died,  lapsed  into  its  surviving  grandfather),  but 
granting,  instead,  that  since  it  had  been  specialised  and 
individualised,  and  trained  and  developed,  it  remained 
a  discarnate  individualised  spirit,  and  was  attracted, 
by  sympathy  perhaps,  to  a  special  medium,  and  desirous 
of  communicating  with  surviving  mortals,  and  granting, 
too,  that  an  efflorescence,  let  us  say,  from  the  medium, 
another  from  the  bodies  of  those  present,  and  a  third 
from  the  atmosphere,  perhaps,  might  be  tangibly  avail- 
able as  a  framework,  it  is  not  at  all  incredible  that  bound 
ether,  under  strain,  might  be  attracted  to,  and  agglomer- 
ate with,  and,  acting  under  intelligent  power,  might 
possibly  produce  all  the  phenomena  of  materialisation, 
and  those  of  poltergeists,  and  other  like  manifestations. 


356  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

Such  an  interpretation  might  also  serve  to  account 
for  the  almost  universal  employment  of  such  terms  as 
"magnetism,"  "electricity/'  "animal  magnetism," 
" etherealisation,"  "materialisation,"  and  the  like, 
applied  in  spiritualistic  nomenclature,  simply  because 
they  seem  appropriate,  while  no  other  terms  are  ;  but, 
as  the  most  careful  tests  show,  which  phenomena  do  not 
respond  to  electroscopes,  magnetoscopes,  galvanoscopes 
or  other  similar  instruments. 


CHAPTER  XLIV 

SOME  PERSONAL  EXPERIMENTS  IN  MATERIALISATION 

I  AM  not,  however,  broaching  a  theory ;  I  am  merely 
endeavouring  to  present  a  scientific  suggestion  which 
may  serve  to  excuse,  on  the  part  of  scientific  students, 
any  investigation  of  these  remarkable  phenomena,  which 
they  may  be  persuaded  to  undertake. 

At  all  events,  phenomena  of  this  character  have  been 
too  common  everywhere,  in  all  parts  of  the  world  and 
during  all  past  times,  as  well  as  at  present,  for  us,  as 
scientific  students,  to  ignore  them.  It  may  not  be 
possible,  at  present,  to  explain  these  phenomena,  at 
least  to  fully  explain  them,  but  their  substantial  identity 
is  so  remarkable  in  all  the  narratives,  that  they  must 
have  some  valid  basis,  and  must  be  in  accord  with  the 
great  law  of  continuity,  and  almost  certainly  with  the 
continuity  of  life. 

They  involve  telepathy  and  thought  transference,  and 
very  often  prevision  ;  almost  always  clairvoyance  ;  and 
the  physical  manifestations  clearly  extend  far  beyond 
phenomena  of  these  types  alone. 

In  fact,  the  physical  and  the  non-physical  seem  to 
blend  in  these  cases  in  such  a  manner  as  to  suggest  a 
revision  of  all  our  conceptions  of  crude  matter  as  formerly 
held,  and  this  is  what  science  to-day,  in  the  light  of  its 
recent  advances,  stands  ready  to  accept,  on  proof. 

Many  reported  cases  of  materialisation  are  disputed 
because  the  records  have  been  made  long  subsequent 
to  the  occurrences,  and  theories  of  malobservation  and 
defective  memory  have  served,  often  most  unjustly,  to 
discredit  the  narratives. 

A  case  occurred  in  my  own  experience,  however,  in 
the  spring  of  1902,  to  which  these  objections  will,  perhaps, 
not  be  pertinent,  as  the  narrative  was  written  down  at 

357 


358  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

once  after  the  experience,  was  commenced,  in  fact,  within 
twenty  minutes  afterwards,  and  finished  immediately. 

I  have  also  secured  valid  data,  I  think,  excluding 
hallucination  and  hypnotism  as  elements.  As  for  the 
personal  good  faith  of  the  narrative,  that  will  have  to 
take  its  chances,  excepting  that  another  of  our  members 
went  with  me  a  week  afterwards  to  the  same  medium, 
and  the  case  was  continued  with  added  information, 
with  no  materialised  form  of  this  personage  of  whom  I 
speak,  but  with  plenty  of  others,  not  matters  of  scientific 
interest  to  me,  and  of  which  I  made  no  written  record. 

I  have  read  this  manuscript  before  the  Philadelphia 
Section  S.P.R.  in  June  1905,  and  I  will  very  briefly 
abstract  it  here. 

About  thirty  sitters  were  present,  arranged  in  an 
elongated  horseshoe,  with  the  cabinet  at  the  open  end. 
A  dim  light  was  burning  behind  the  curve  of  the  horse- 
shoe, throwing  its  red  light  on  to  the  cabinet,  as  usual. 

The  medium's  son  sat  beside  the  entrance  of  the 
cabinet,  outside,  showing  a  vast  expanse  of  white  shirt- 
bosom,  which  certainly  remained  there  during  all  the 
proceedings.  Opposite  him  was  a  well-known  florist, 
who  brought  a  bunch  of  long-stemmed  roses,  which  he 
laid  on  the  floor  by  his  side. 

The  cabinet  was  closed  in  its  rear,  being  an  alcove 
from  the  parlour.  It  had  one  window  opening  on  the 
yard,  but  the  shutters  were  closed,  and  locked. 

In  other  words,  ordinary  precautions  were  taken  to 
eliminate  confederates.  I  know  of  my  own  knowledge, 
however,  as  some  of  us  had  sittings  in  private  houses 
with  the  same  medium,  with  a  powerful  electric  street 
light  outside,  where  the  medium  had,  and  could  have 
had,  no  confederates  there,  and  the  audience  consisted 
of  four  members  of  the  S.P.R.  only.  In  fact,  I  tested 
the  confederate  hypothesis  with  this  medium  so  often 
and  so  conclusively  that  I  know  that  whatever  other 
fraud  might  have  been  charged,  it  could  not  be  of  this 
character.  That  she  fraudulently  impersonated  the 
materialised  forms  herself  is  another  question. 

Regarding  this  latter,  with  other  mediums,  I  can  only 
cite  such  cases  as  the  well-known  experiences  of  Sir 
William  Crookes,  who  felt  and  handled  at  the  same  time, 


SOME  PERSONAL  EXPERIMENTS      359 

at  arms'  length  from  each  other,  the  materialised  Katie 
King  and  the  medium  Florence  Cook,  in  his  own  library, 
as  described  in  his  published  works.  Or  those  of  my 
friend,  Dr  Bayley,  a  very  capable  neurologist  and  expert 
in  mental  cases,  and  a  most  cold  and  critical  observer,  of 
excellent  training,  who  was,  on  one  occasion,  called  into 
a  cabinet  of  this  character  with  another  medium,  and 
from  handling  the  forms  inside  declared  unequivocally 
that  there  were  there  two  living  human  organisms. 
Also  a  case  of  my  own  with  the  medium  I  am  now 
describing,  in  which  I  was  called  into  the  cabinet.  The 
medium  was  stout,  clad  in  black,  with  a  closely-buttoned 
and  braided  "  body,"  fastened  up  with  multitudinous 
black-glass  buttons,  and  the  cloth  as  closely  stretched 
as  the  skin,  it  seemed  to  me.  I  only  found  one  tangible 
form  in  the  cabinet,  but  when  I  had  "  communicated 
sufficient  strength,"  I  turned  to  go,  and,  as  I  stepped  out 
into  the  room,  I  heard  a  cry  of  surprise  from  the  audience, 
and  instantly  turned  to  find  myself  followed  by  a  thin, 
tall,  female  figure,  clothed  in  white.  The  time  required 
for  this  transformation  could  have  been  not  more  than 
three  seconds,  and,  like  Sidney  Smith,  the  medium 
would  have  had  to  strip  to  the  bones,  pretty  nearly,  to 
effect  this  change  of  contour  and  costume. 

I  do  not  fully  understand  these  things,  but  that  is  no 
reason  why  I  should  allow  others  who  understand  them 
very  much  less,  or  not  at  all,  to  do  the  understanding 
for  me .  I  agree  with  Professor  De  Morgan  that, 

"  The  physical  explanations  I  have  seen  are  easy,  but 
miserably  insufficient." 

I  will  now  recur  to  the  case  of  which  I  made  the 
record  at  once,  and  from  this  record  I  make  the  following 
brief  notes. 

A  patient  of  mine,  aged  more  than  eighty,  an  old  and 
dear  friend,  had  suffered  for  about  nine  years  with  a 
traumatic  rotary  curvature  of  the  spine,  gradually 
progressive  in  character,  and  finally,  by  a  passive 
pneumonia,  terminating  in  death,  at  which  I  was  present. 
When  all  had  left  the  room,  I  laid  my  hand  on  my  dead 
friend's  forehead,  and  said,  "  Dear  friend,  I  will  see  you 
later,"  meaning  in  the  great  beyond. 

He  was  buried  the  succeeding  Saturday,  and  next  day, 


360  SPIRIT    AND    MATTER 

Sunday  evening,  as  it  was  raining  violently,  and  my 
offices  promised  to  be  empty,  I  concluded  to  go  down 
a  few  blocks,  and  see  what  my  other  old  acquaintance, 
the  medium,  whom  I  had  not  seen  for  more  than  two 
years,  had  to  say.  I  found  her  packed  up  for  her 
summer  visit  to  Onset,  in  Massachusetts.  She  had  been 
ill,  and  had  just  returned  from  a  short  visit  to  the  country, 
those  present  told  me. 

The  sitting  proceeded,  as  I  have  already  described, 
many  forms  coming  out  to  their  alleged  friends  and 
relatives,  in  which  I  took,  as  it  was  an  old  story,  a  very 
languid  interest,  "  Patie,"  her  spiritual  child-assistant, 
and  I,  however,  had  something  to  say  to  each  other,  as 
she  was  one  of  my  fast  friends.  I  will  now  quote  from 
my  manuscript. 

"  About  a  half -hour  after  the  sitting  commenced,  and 
after  numerous  other  manifestations  to  others,  there 
appeared  a  tallish  (for  a  woman)  figure,  much  bowed 
over,  and  walking  with  an  uneven  motion,  and  an 
apparently  conspicuous  limp,  more  especially  on  its  right 
side.    As  it  advanced  between  the  lines  of  sitters,  which 
were  about  6  ft.  apart,  it  carried  its  arms,  in  front,  bowed 
towards  each  other  at  nearly  the  height  of  the  mouth, 
and  at  every  step  swayed  them  simultaneously  up  and 
down,  as  though  either  to  assist  in  walking,  or  as  a  sort 
of  movement  of  recognition,  or  both.    As  it  stepped 
along,  several  said,   'The  poor  lady  is  lame/      None 
seemed  to  know  her,  nor  did  the  appearance  speak  or 
make  any  sound  from  first  to  last.    When  nearly  opposite 
me  (and  up  to  this  time  I  had  taken  no  especial  notice), 
it  turned  suddenly,  and  came  directly  in  front  of  me, 
still  waving  its  arms  up  and  down,  and  then  stopped 
within  a  foot  of  me  perhaps,  and  waved  its  arms,  while 
standing,  still  the  same.    I  saw  at  once  that  it  was  not 
the  face  of  a  female,  but  was  the  living  image  of  my  old 
friend,  as  though  taken  some  year  or  more,  up  to  five 
years  and  more,  ago.    It  had  the  same  strong  face,  short 
gray  side  and  chin  whiskers,  bare  lip,  short,  white  hair, 
and  a  sort  of  bandage  about  the  upper  part  of  the  head, 
while  the  breadth  of  chest  was  extreme,  as  it  was  in  the 
case  of  my  deceased  friend,  and  which  was  one  of  the 
prime  factors  of  his  holding  out  so  long,  for  a  number 


SOME  PERSONAL  EXPERIMENTS     361 

of  years  after  the  accidents  which  finally  caused  his 
death. 

"  I  expected  him  to  speak,  and  I  waited  breathless, 
but  almost  before  I  saw  what  was  happening,  the  form 
receded,  still  waving  the  arms,  and  was  gone  into  the 
cabinet  apparently.  I  supposed  that  it  had,  perhaps, 
gone  back  for  more  strength,  and  would  reappear,  but 
it  did  not  do  so. 

"  After  waiting  a  good  while,  and  after  a  number  of 
other  appearances  had  come  out,  I  appealed  to  my 
little  friend  '  Patie,'  who  is  always  ready,  behind  the 
curtain,  to  explain  things.  But  first,  in  an  interval,  I 
asked  the  company  if  it  was  a  male  or  female.  All  said 
it  was  a  female  ;  one  said, '  It  was  a  lady,  and  she  came 
to  you,  doctor.' 

"  As  for  the  garb,  the  figure  was  clothed  in  ap- 
parently pure  white,  and  the  sleeves  were  full,  and  closed 
at  the  wristbands  like  a  clergyman's  sleeves. 

"  In  fact,  the  whole  garment  was  much  like  a  surplice, 
or  a  white  shroud.  The  arms  obstructed  the  view 
somewhat,  as  the  bent  elbows  were  in  front,  I  presume. 

"When  I  spoke  to  Patie,  I  said,  '  Patie,  can  you  tell 
me  the  name  of  that  person  that  came  out,  the  lame 
one  ? ' 

" '  I    didn't    get    any   name/    she    replied.    Then 
suddenly,  '  Doctor,  she  was  a  he.' 
'  Are  you  sure  ?  '  I  asked. 

"  *  Oh,  yes,'  she  replied,  '  it  was  a  gentleman,  and  he 
came  to  you.' 

"  Then,  after  a  long  pause,  '  Doctor,  wasn't  there 
something  wrong  with  that  lame  gentleman's  top- 
knot ? ' 

*  What  do  you  mean,  Patie  ?  ' 
'  I  mean,'  she  said, '  wasn't  he  'ranged  in  his  head  ?  ' 
'  Yes,  rather,  towards  the  last,'  I  said. 
'  Yes,  I  thought  so.'    Then 
'  Doctor,  didn't  that  gentleman  pass  over  from  an 
accident  ? ' 

1  Well,  partially  so,  but  it  would  take  a  long 
time  to  tell  you  about  it.' 

'  Yes,  but  it  was  a  pesculiar  case,  wasn't  it  ?  ' 

"  '  Yes,  it  was,  Patie.' 


362  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

1 1  thought  so,  it  was  a  very  pesculiar  case.' 

"  After  the  sitting  had  been  going  on  perhaps  ten 
minutes  longer,  I  having  asked  Patie  to  see  if  she 
could  find  out  anything  more  about  him,  she  said, 

"  '  Say,  Doctor,  didn't  that  lame  gentleman  have 
something  to  do  with  grain  and  feed  ?  ' 

"  *  What  makes  you  think  so,  Patie  ?  ' 

"  '  I  get  a  'pression  of  grain  and  feed  ;  it  is  only 
a  'pression  I  get.' ' 

A  half-hour  later  another  figure  appeared,  which 
spoke  the  single  word  (let  us  say)  "  Rachel."  She 
then  walked  directly  up  to  me,  leaned  over,  and 
repeated  the  word  "  Rachel,"  and  retired. 

I  then  asked  if  this  Rachel  was  connected  with  the 
lame  person,  and  a  series  of  rapid  knocks  came  from 
the  cabinet.  Patie  said  that  she  had  passed  out 
first. 

A  little  while  afterwards  the  name  "  Carberry  " 
was  spoken,  and  Patie  said,  "  I  think  that's  for  you, 
Doctor,  too ;  don't  you  recognise  it."  The  name 
"  Say  lor  "  was  also  called  out.  Patie  suggested  that 
Rachel  and  these  others  "  all  belong  together." 

The  corroborative  facts  are  that  Rachel  was  the 
name  of  the  long-deceased  wife  of  my  friend,  whom  I 
knew  and  attended  till  her  death,  that  her  maiden 
name,  while  not  Carberry,  was  all  that  excepting  the 
latter  part,  and  that  Saylor  was  the  name  of  her 
married  sister. 

As  regards  my  friend  himself,  he  had  much  to  do, 
in  a  large  way,  with  grain  and  feed  ;  his  death  was 
secondarily  due  to  accident ;  and  he  was  deranged 
in  his  mind  for  a  considerable  time  before  his  death. 
Owing  to  the  progressive  injury  to  the  spinal  column, 
he  walked  precisely  as  he  appeared,  bent  over, 
limping  on  the  right  side,  tottering  so  that  he  had  to 
be  aided  on  both  sides,  but  occasionally  took  a  header 
of  his  own,  with  disastrous  consequences. 

He  wore  a  long,  nearly  white  bath-robe  habitually, 
for  he  mostly  sat  in  a  large  adjustable  chair,  precisely 
as  he  appeared  before  us,  with  a  cord  around  the  waist, 
but  not  always  tied. 

The  most  remarkable  coincidence  to  me,  however, 


SOME  PERSONAL  EXPERIMENTS     363 

was  that  up-and-down  motion  of  his  bowed  arms  to 
his  mouth  and  back  again,  and  so  on,  repeated  over 
and  over. 

It  was  due  to  a  hallucination,  not  uncommon  in 
these  spinal  cases,  that  his  teeth  (he  had  excellent 
teeth  for  his  age)  were  wired  together  at  the  roots. 

I  employed  dentist  after  dentist,  for  some  refused 
to  extract  sound  teeth.  I  consulted  with  the  wife, 
and  at  his  persistent  demands  tooth  after  tooth  was 
extracted,  to  give  him  evidence  of  the  unsoundness 
of  his  theory  ;  which  nothing  would  accomplish, 
and  up  to  his  death  that  mute  appeal  of  his  vibrating, 
bowed  arms,  from  mouth  to  waist  was  the  one  con- 
spicuous feature  of  his  sufferings.  If  he  had  sought 
the  world  over,  he  could  have  found  nothing  so 
evidential  as  this,  of  his  surviving  personality. 

Of  course  this  was  a  professional  and  sacred  secret, 
known  only  to  his  wife  and  nurse  and  to  myself — that 
is,  fully  known  only  to  us. 

It  was  not  a  thing  to  be  talked  about,  and  if  it  had 
been,  the  motion  itself  was  most  unlikely  to  have  been 
imitated. 

The  medium,  I  am  sure,  knew  no  one  of  this 
family,  nor  of  their  connections  ;  there  was  not  a 
spiritualist  among  them,  and  they  were  members  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  from  which  church  he  was 
buried. 

In  endeavouring  to  account  for  these  phenomena, 
while  the  experiment  was  in  progress,  I  took  account 
of  the  often-used  hypothesis  of  collective  hallucina- 
tion, for  which,  however,  I  have  never  seen  sufficient 
evidence  in  physical  cases. 

But  the  opportunity  presented  itself,  by  which  I 
satisfied  myself  that  this  was  no  part  of  the  explana- 
tion required.  Among  these  materialised  forms  were 
two  whom  I  had  met  there  long  before. 

One  of  them  was  good  old  Mother  Wheat,  a 
resident,  while  in  the  flesh,  of  Wheeling,  W.  Va., 
whose  old  inhabitants  she  had  at  her  fingers'  ends, 
and  who  was  very  loquacious  in  her  quaint  way,  and 
always  urging  me  to  continue  my  scientific  work  along 
these  lines ;  the  other  was  Namouna,  an  alleged 


364  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

resident  of  Mars,  here  temporarily  in  pursuit  of 
her  anthropological  studies,  a  very  beautiful  and 
attractive  young  girl,  fond  of  talking  with  me  on  her 
life  in  Mars,  but  who  made  me  think  far  more  of 
Venus  than  of  that  other  planet. 

But,  on  the  "  collective  hallucination "  basis, 
these  two  hallucinatory  visions,  during  the  evening, 
each  brought  me  a  beautiful  hallucinatory,  long- 
stemmed  rose,  from  those  lying  on  the  floor,  beside 
the  florist,  and  put  it  in  my  hallucinatory  hand  with 
very  complimentary  but  hallucinatory  thanks  and 
good  wishes. 

I  grasped  these  hallucinatory  roses  fast  by  their 
stems,  or  thought  I  did,  for  I  made  up  my  mind  not 
to  let  them  escape  for  an  instant,  and,  at  the  close 
of  the  sitting,  I  carried  them  home,  still  grasped  in  my 
hand,  and  then  gave  them  to  my  daughter,  who,  at 
once,  in  admiration  of  their  beauty,  placed  them  in 
water  in  a  deep  vessel,  and  they  remained  and  kept 
in  bloom  on  the  dining  table  for  days  and  days 
afterwards. 

I  merely  cite  the  facts,  however,  leaving  to  other 
skilled  psychologists  the  interpretation  of  the 
phenomena. 


CHAPTER    XLV 

SOME   FURTHER  EXPERIMENTS   WITH   PSYCHICAL 
PHENOMENA 

I  DESIRE  now  to  make  brief  reference  to  another 
materialising  medium,  who  is  usually  in  Philadelphia 
for  a  few  weeks  during  the  winter,  and  who  is  known 
to  many  of  the  members  and  associates  of  the 
S.P.R.  here. 

She  is  very  much  of  a  lady,  refined  and  intelligent, 
and  when  I  first  knew  her,  a  few  years  ago,  had  a 
lovely  and  devoted  young  daughter  just  budding  into 
womanhood. 

I  have  never  known  this  lady,  or  her  daughter, 
intimately,  but  I  have  been  acquainted  with  them 
for  probably  nine  years.  I  have  been  present  at 
perhaps  a  dozen  of  her  seances.  My  interest  in  these 
phenomena  has  been  purely  in  the  way  of  investiga- 
tion ;  nothing  would  be  more  repellent  to  me  than 
personal  communications  involving  the  present  or 
future,  if  of  any  important  or  specially  significant 
character. 

I  may  describe,  somewhat,  the  meeting  of  this 
lady  with  her  sitters.  Her  young  daughter  was 
always  present,  and  looked  after  the  safety  and 
welfare  of  her  mother,  sat  in  the  audience  outside  the 
cabinet,  and  manipulated  the  cord  which  regulated 
the  light.  This  medium,  like  the  previous  one,  sat 
indifferently  in  her  own  room,  or  in  the  private  houses 
of  friends  or  acquaintances  who  might  like  to  have 
her  with  them  at  their  own  homes. 

She  had  a  beautiful  home  of  her  own  in  Southern 
California,  and  was  herself  a  native  of  South-western 
Tennessee.  I  have  heard  from  another  mediumistic 
friend,  that,  when  a  young  girl,  she  used  to  have  all 

365 


366  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

her  present  manifestations  take  place  anywhere — 
out  in  the  orchard,  in  any  room  or  shed,  or,  in  fact, 
anywhere.  In  her  seances  which  I  have  attended 
the  cabinet  was  a  rather  curious  affair.  For  con- 
venience sake  she  had  made  a  slight  knock-down 
construction  which  she  carried  with  her.  It  consisted 
of  four  uprights  hinged  in  the  middle,  with  their  tops 
and  bottoms  joined  by  cross-pieces  ;  the  whole  was 
a  skeleton  put  together  something  like  a  jointed 
fishing-rod.  Over  the  top  and  down  three  sides  were 
buttoned  grey  blankets,  to  buttons  fixed  on  the  sticks, 
and  together,  something  like  the  curtains  used  in 
sleeping-cars.  Another  blanket,  overlapping  the 
others,  at  the  edges,  hung  loosely  down  in  front,  and 
could  be  flung  up,  over  the  covered  top,  or  pulled 
down  by  the  hand,  to  cover  the  opening  in  front. 

The  loose  materials  for  this  cabinet,  which,  when 
completed,  was  about  four  feet  square,  and  six  and  a 
half  high,  usually  lay  on  the  floor,  and  we  were 
accustomed  to  put  the  construction  up  ourselves, 
without  interference  from  anybody,  and  placed  it  in 
any  convenient  part  of  the  room.  I  do  not  recollect 
any  occasion  on  which  it  stood  against  a  wall,  and 
people  could  pass  freely  around  it,  and  did  so,  at 
pleasure.  The  whole  affair  was  about  as  simple  and 
unconventional  as  possible,  and  I  have  attended 
seances  there,  with  other  members  of  the  S.P.R., 
in  which  we  knew  personally  everybody  present  in 
the  room. 

The  medium  usually  came  into  the  parlour  after 
everything  had  been  prepared,  and  made,  or  suggested, 
any  little  changes  of  chairs  or  lamp,  or  of  other 
fixtures  desired,  although  the  daughter  was  very 
careful  and  competent,  by  herself. 

This  medium's  performance  usually  opened  with 
some  experiments  similar  to  those  described  by 
Zollner  in  his  "  Transcendental  Physics,"  or  some  of 
those  described  by  Sir  William  Crookes,  with  the 
medium  Home. 

These  phenomena  occurred  in  full  gaslight,  and 
I  will  only  mention  them  to  give  an  opportunity  to 
describe  a  little  interpolation  of  my  own. 


SOME   FURTHER   EXPERIMENTS      367 

She  stood  in  the  open  cabinet,  with  a  wooden 
chair  beside  her,  with  cross-rounds  beneath,  and  cross- 
bars in  the  back.  Any  chair  commonly  used  in  the 
house  served  ;  I  got  her  one  of  my  own  from  outside 
the  parlour  on  one  occasion. 

Her  hands  were  then  bound  together  by  any  of 
those  present ;  I  and  my  S.P.R.  friends  sometimes 
assisted  in  this,  and  I  will  merely  say  that  we  did  the 
best  we  could.  The  medium  was  entirely  passive, 
and  agreed  to  any  sort  of  tying,  or  any  sort  of  cord 
produced  by  any  of  those  present. 

Perhaps  she  could  slip  her  hands  out ;  she  had 
very  beautifully  formed  hands  and  wrists,  but  it  was 
not  the  ability  to  slip  the  hands  out  that  puzzled  me, 
but  how  she  could  get  them  out,  do  her  juggling,  and 
then  put  them  back  again  in  the  short  time  occupied. 
I  am  very  familiar  with  mechanics  and  mechanical 
operations — have,  in  fact,  taken  out  a  hundred  or 
more  mechanical  patents,  have  been  long  identified 
with  mechanics,  and  have  frequently  been  called  to 
testify,  as  an  expert  witness,  before  United  States 
Courts  in  patent  litigation,  so  that  I  do  not  approach 
this  difficulty  precisely  like  an  amateur. 

The  modus  operandi  was  as  follows  : — Someone, 
anyone,  would  catch  and  pull  down  the  front  curtain, 
thus  putting  her  in  darkness  in  the  cabinet.  In  a 
moment  she  would  call  "  light,"  and  the  curtain 
would  be  flung  up  by  anyone  present,  and  she  would 
be  seen  to  have  the  chair  strung  within  the  rungs, 
upon  her  bound-together  arms.  Curtain  down  again, 
"  light,"  and  the  chair  would  be  strung  by  other  of  its 
rungs,  and  so  on.  Or  a  coat  flung  in  would  be  turned 
wrongside  out  and  found  put  on  by  the  medium, 
either  put  on  correctly,  or  else  with  one  sleeve  turned 
wrongside  out  and  put  on,  or  else,  if  a  large  coat, 
with  its  back  twisted  two  or  three  times  across  the 
back  and  the  sleeves  on  the  arms  correctly.  Looking 
at  the  back,  the  coat  sometimes  looked  like  a  twisted 
rope  across  the  body.  Or  she  would  take  hand- 
kerchiefs, and  make  them  up  into  the  most  comical 
little  effigies  of  babies,  Indians,  or  the  like. 

The  time  element  was  the  significant  factor  to 


368  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

me,  and  to  all  of  us.  From  fall  of  curtain  to  cry  of 
"  light,"  and  flinging  it  up,  the  time  was  never  longer 
than  nine  seconds,  varying  from  that  down  to  three 
or  less.  Of  course,  the  exhibition,  with  the  open 
curtain,  was  as  long  as  anyone  desired.  I  have 
seen,  as  we  all  have,  a  chair  dropping,  midway  in  the 
air,  as  the  curtain  was  flung  up,  and  falling  with  a 
crash  on  the  floor. 

On  one  occasion  I  asked  her  if  she  had  any 
objection  to  my  snapping  a  rubber  band  on  her  wrists, 
over  the  other  bindings  (and  that  is  why  I  am  narrat- 
ing these  trivial  incidents).  "  Certainly  not,"  she 
said,  and  I  took  out  of  my  pocket  a  thin  rubber  band, 
such  as  they  put  round  small  packages — about  an 
inch  or  two  across  when  unstretched.  She  held  out 
her  bound  wrists,  and  I  snapped  it  on  the  wrists  so  as 
to  make  contact  with  the  skin  directly. 

The  experiments  went  on  just  the  same,  but  after 
a  few  minutes  the  daughter  interposed,  and  said  she 
would  not  have  her  mother  tortured,  and  I  removed 
the  rubber  band.  I  was  sorry  to  see  that  it  had  left 
quite  a  deep  imprint,  as  such  rings  will,  in  the  flesh. 

Of  course  this  rubber  band  could  have  been 
removed  and  reapplied  readily,  but  I  could  not  see 
how  any  movement  of  the  hands  which  would  enable 
them  to  be  slipped  out  of  the  cords,  and  then  again 
slipped  in,  could,  at  the  same  time,  remove  the  hands, 
or  hand,  from  the  rubber  ring,  and  again  reapply  it. 

I  will  not  narrate  any  materialising  experiments 
with  this  medium,  except  to  say  that  it  was  with  this 
lady  that  Dr  Bayley's  experience  occurred  in  the 
cabinet,  in  which  he  believed  that  he  distinctly 
handled  two  apparently  solid  human  forms,  at  the 
same  time. 

I  will,  however,  mention  that  it  was  usual  with 
this  medium  to  have  the  curtain  flung  up  at  the  end 
of  the  seance,  and  draw  the  medium  out  into  the 
room  seated  on  her  chair  ;  and  any  of  those  present 
were  then  invited  to  go  up  and  examine  her.  The 
room  was  fully  lighted  at  these  times.  On  one  of 
these  occasions,  within  five  minutes,  certainly  within 
ten,  after  I  had  tested  the  pulse,  and,  approximately, 


SOME    FURTHER   EXPERIMENTS      369 

the  skin  and  temperature,  of  one  of  these  materialised 
forms  outside  the  cabinet,  I  did  the  same  for  the 
medium. 

I  found  her  pupils  rigid,  her  eyeballs  insensitive 
to  passing  the  fingers  over  them,  the  skin  cold  and 
clammy,  and  shrunken  and  wrinkled,  the  pulse  90 
and  very  thready  and  contracted. 

The  arms  were  cataleptic,  although  this  might  have 
been  simulated  by  the  subject. 

The  whole  physical  objectivity,  however,  was 
abnormal,  and  pathological,  so  that,  if  I  had  been 
called  to  see  a  case  presenting  those  phenomena,  I 
should  have  considered  it  a  serious  professional  case. 

The  form  I  had  seen  before  outside  the  cabinet 
was  rosy,  warm,  plump,  with  skin  moist,  lips  red,  and 
as  quick  and  active  as  any  young  girl  would  be  in  a 
state  of  perfect  health.  In  fact,  very  much  like  what 
the  form  purported  to  be,  and  which  claimed  to  have 
passed  over  thirty-two  years  ago,  to  the  very  month, 
as  she  correctly  informed  me,  but  which  fact  I  did  not 
know  till  I  looked  the  data  up  afterwards,  and  com- 
puted the  time  by  other  evidence. 

So  much  for  the  phenomena.  Now  there  is 
another  difficulty  with  this  medium,  on  any  basis  of 
alleged  fraud  or  deception,  which  I  am  totally  unable 
to  explain,  taking  human  nature  to  be  of  any  worth 
or  character  whatever. 

For  many  years  my  brother  was  engaged  in  the 
jewellery  business  in  Carlisle,  a  small  city  in  the 
interior  of  Pennsylvania. 

He  usually  purchased  his  stock  in  Philadelphia 
and  New  York,  and  among  those  from  whom  he 
bought  in  Philadelphia  was  a  wholesale  house  which  I 
will  call  that  of  Mr  Hooper. 

I  was  practising  medicine  in  Philadelphia  at  the 
time,  and  my  brother  often  called  upon  my  family, 
or  I  met  him  down  town,  and  sometimes  went  with 
him  to  some  of  the  houses  from  which  he  bought  his 
goods.  As  I  sometimes  wanted  a  watch,  or  other 
articles  in  his  line,  he  took  me  with  him  and  introduced 
me,  among  others,  to  Mr  Hooper,  and  asked  him  to 
sell  me  anything  I  might  want  just  as  he  sold  such 

2  A 


370  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

goods  to  him,  which  Mr  Hooper  consented  to  do,  and 
of  which  opportunity  I  availed  myself.  All  this  was 
perhaps  twenty-five  years  ago. 

My  brother  recommended  Mr  Hooper  to  me  as  a 
thoroughly  reliable  man.  I  know  he  had  an  excellent 
reputation,  and  did  a  good  business.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  as  he  still  is  ;  and, 
in  due  time,  having  acquired  such  a  competence  as 
would  satisfy  him,  he  retired  from  business,  in  which 
he  has  not  since  actively  engaged.  He  certainly  was 
and  is  a  very  fine  man,  against  whom  I  have  never 
heard  a  word  of  disparagement,  and  many  of  my 
friends  know  him  personally,  and  I  have,  for  my  own 
reasons,  inquired  about  him,  from  others. 

When  I  first  visited  this  medium  in  question  I 
found  that  Mr  Hooper,  with  others  whom  I  knew, 
was  present,  sitting  back  and  examining  the 
phenomena  much  as  I  did.  I  was  told  that  he  was  a 
believer  in  the  truth  of  the  phenomena. 

So  it  continued,  and  when  the  medium  was,  at 
intervals,  in  Philadelphia,  he  attended  the  seances  at 
various  times,  and  meanwhile  the  young  daughter 
grew  up  to  be  a  beautiful  and  intelligent  young  lady. 
Some  years  afterwards  they  were  married,  and  the 
family  has  since  consisted  of  the  mother,  daughter 
and  son-in-law. 

As  the  daughter  is  devoted  to  her  mother,  and 
accompanies  her  in  her  journeys,  so  the  husband  now 
does  likewise,  and  they  thus  live  and  travel  together. 
It  was  at  first  contemplated  by  her  to  retire,  and  they 
went  to  their  home  in  Southern  California,  for  that 
purpose,  but  "  the  call  of  the  wild  "  was  upon  her, 
and  she  was  unwillingly  taken  from  her  rest,  and 
again  forced  into  her  laborious  life  of  psychical  work. 
Mr  Hooper,  later,  bought  a  beautiful  place  by  one  of 
the  lakes  in  Central  New  York,  where  they  spend  part 
of  their  vacations. 

One  of  my  friends,  of  the  Philadelphia  Section 
S.P.R.,  an  old  friend  of  theirs,  visited  them  at  their 
home  last  year,  and  could  not  speak  too  highly  of  the 
home  life  of  his  friends. 

Now  the  problem  which  I  am  unable  to  solve  is  this: 


SOME  FURTHER  EXPERIMENTS      371 

Mr  Hooper  is  a  man  of  independent  means ;  he 
retired  from  business  to  have  opportunity  for  rest  and 
study.  He  is  an  orthodox  Christian,  a  member  of  the 
Church,  and  a  man  universally  respected.  He  is 
withal,  as  are  his  wife  and  her  mother,  modest,  quiet, 
and  altogether  unaffected,  and  with  no  craving  at  all 
for  notoriety. 

For  years  past  he  has  travelled  with  his  wife  and 
her  mother  wherever  they  have  gone  ;  he  is  always 
present  at,  and  takes  an  active  part  in,  the  seances 
now  ;  attends  to  much  of  the  detail  work  ;  apparently 
he  loves,  honours  and  respects  his  family ;  and  yet, 
if  there  is  any  collusion,  or  impersonators,  con- 
federates, trickery,  fraud,  or  anything  of  the  sort, 
it  is  an  absolute  certainty  that  he  must  not  only 
long  since  have  known  it,  but  must  spend  his  life  in 
aiding  and  abetting  it. 

And  for  what  ?  The  money  profit  of  those 
seances  to  Mr  Hooper  must  be  a  mere  nothing  ;  to 
anyone,  indeed,  the  profits  would  be  considered  very 
moderate ;  for  these  three  people,  together,  the 
profits  could  not  exceed,  on  an  average,  the  weekly 
salary  of  a  good  ordinary  mechanic,  and  the  labour 
is  hard  and  exhausting.  They  have  two  beautiful 
homes  to  fall  back  to,  and  ample  means  to  carry  them 
on. 

But  if  this  medium  has  an  appointed  work  to  do, 
and  feels  it,  and  is  controlled  by  influences  beyond 
her  own  personality,  and  if  her  son-in-law  and 
daughter  feel  this  also,  and  .bow  to  it,  then  I  can 
understand  the  whole  situation. 


CHAPTER   XLVI 

INCONSEQUENTIAL  CHARACTER  OF  MUCH  OF  THE 
PHENOMENA,  WHICH  MAY  YET  BE  OF  EXTREME 
VALUE  FOR  SCIENTIFIC  PURPOSES 

To  show  the  utterly  inconsequential  character  of  the 
stuff  which  often  comes  along  the  invisible  lines,  and 
yet  that  it  has  a  value  of  its  own  in  quite  other  direc- 
tions, I  will  refer  to  a  case  of  table  tipping,  to  which 
I  have  already  referred  as  one  in  which  the  table 
worked  like  a  sawmill,  and  in  which  I  was  a  principal 
party,  quite  unexpectedly  to  myself. 

I  was  asked  to  call  at  the  house  of  an  acquaintance 
on  Sixth  Street,  where  three  or  four  mutual  friends 
occasionally  conducted  table-tipping  experiments 
among  themselves.  I  dropped  in  about  ten  o'clock 
one  evening,  and  the  time  up  to  half  after  one  was 
occupied  with  a  single  message  to  myself.  Nothing 
else  turned  up  all  the  evening,  and  I  fear  that  my 
three  partners  were  a  good  deal  disgusted  with  the 
paucity  of  the  outcome.  Nevertheless,  I  found 
considerable  side  interest  in  following  out  and 
endeavouring  to  account  for  the  clues. 

The  table  was  a  light,  oblong,  folding  table,  such 
as  are  used  by  ladies  for  cutting  out  children's  dresses, 
etc.  Two  of  us  sat  one  one  side,  and  the  two  others 
on  the  opposite.  The  sensitive  sat  diagonally  across 
from  me.  We  sat  there  and  talked  upon  various 
subjects  for  about  fifteen  minutes,  when  the  table 
took  a  slide  diagonally  across  to  the  sensitive  (who 
was  not  a  professional  medium  at  all,  of  course,  but 
the  lady  of  the  house),  and  so  manifested  that  some 
communicator  was  at  hand.  Questions,  with  con- 
stant calling  over  the  alphabet,  then  ensued,  and  the 
following  was  elicited : — 

372 


OFTEN    INCONSEQUENTIAL  373 

"  Johnsteefasayif — ' 

Two  of  the  sitters  believed  that  we  were  "  away 
off,"  and  so  we  went  over  the  letters  again  and  again, 
but  the  table  pronounced  them  correct  every  time. 
It  was  then  suggested  (notwithstanding  my  notion 
that  I  had  turned  up  some  antique  Hindu  disciple, 
for  the  communicator  insisted  that  he  was  dealing 
with  myself  only),  that  perhaps  the  gibberish  might 
be  split  up,  and  the  "  presence  "  separated  it  out  as 
suggested,  and  then  continued  the  sentence  as  follows, 
announcing  that  it  was  then  complete. 

"  John  Steefa  say  if  you  do  more  of  this  good 
results  will  come." 

The  substance  of  this  was  obviously  very  thin, 
but  it  might  be  interesting  to  discover  who  John 
Steefa  was,  and  what  he  had  to  do  with  me. 

The  facts  gleaned  out  were  the  following,  although 
I  had  no  recollection  of  John  Steefa,  nor  do  I  now 
believe  that  I  ever  heard  his  name. 

He  saw  me  in  Philadelphia  ;  it  was  in  1862  ;  in 
September  ;  the  28th  of  September  ;  I  did  him  a 
favour  ;  he  was  from  the  west ;  from  Arkansas  ;  he 
was  not  a  Confederate  soldier  ;  he  was  in  the  Con- 
federate army  ;  he  was  at  Antietam  ;  I  first  saw  him 
in  Maryland  ;  he  was  coloured ;  he  was  light  coloured ; 
he  was  not  a  cook ;  he  was  a  teamster ;  he  was  in 
Longstreet's  corps ;  he  drove  an  ammunition  waggon 
in  the  train  ;  he  was  captured  ;  then  deserted  from 
the  Confederates ;  he  was  captured  by  Union 
cavalry  ;  he  was  taken  up  to  Greencastle,  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  he  came  to  Philadelphia  from  Greencastle  by 
way  of  Harrisburg  ;  never  heard  of  Chambersburg  ; 
he  went  to  Providence,  R.I.,  with  the  cavalry ;  was 
left  there  ;  afterwards  returned  to  Arkansas  ;  it  was 
to  Southern  Arkansas  ;  he  died  there  in  1878  ;  he 
was  never  married  ;  he  first  learned  about  table 
tipping  after  his  death. 

Now  this  story  hung  together  very  well,  and  much 
of  it  was  so  unlikely  that  I  hardly  see  how  my  sub- 
consciousness  could  have  held  the  clues,  or  connected 
them  up. 

For  example,  in  1862,  I  had  not  yet  become  a 


374  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

resident  of  Philadelphia,  but  as  a  soldier  I  passed 
around  it  once,  with  troops,  in  June  1862,  but  was 
only  a  part  of  one  day  in  Philadelphia  in  that  year, 
which  was  on  some  one  of  the  following  days,  25th, 
26th,  27th,  28th  or  2Qth  September. 

The  "  catch  "  as  to  his  belonging  to  the  Confederate 
army,  and  yet  not  being  a  Confederate  soldier 
puzzled  me  greatly,  and  was  only  solved  by  the  fact 
that  he  was  discovered  to  have  been  a  teamster  servant 
and  not  an  enlisted  man.  That  he  knew  Greencastle 
and  Harrisburg,  yet  not  Chambersburg  lying  between, 
is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  we  went  north  at  night 
in  box  cars  from  Greencastle,  and  he,  no  more  than  the 
rest  of  us,  waked  up  so  as  to  see  Chambersburg,  although 
I  was  born  there,  which  we  passed  at  night.  I  was  with 
the  cavalry  which  (two  thousand  of  us)  broke  out  from 
Harper's  Ferry,  through  the  Confederate  cordon  (the 
place  surrendered  early  next  morning),  passed  through 
McLaws'  and  Longstreet's  troops,  and  intercepted, 
attacked  and  captured  the  latter's  ammunition  train 
of  more  than  eighty-six  mule  waggons,  with  coloured 
drivers  and  a  heavy  infantry  guard,  bringing  the 
waggons  and  hundreds  of  prisoners  into  Greencastle  at 
nine  A.M.,  I5th  September,  whence  we  returned  to  the 
Antietam  battlefield,  on  Tuesday,  i6th  September, 
and  which  is  a  matter  of  history.  The  coloured 
drivers,  of  whom  there  were  perhaps  a  hundred,  were 
left  stranded  in  Pennsylvania,  and  some  of  them,  one 
or  two  I  believe,  "  sneaked  their  way  "  along  with  the 
troops  to  which  I  was  attached,  when  they  returned 
to  Rhode  Island  at  the  end  of  September. 

But  the  personality  of  John  Steefa,  if  I  ever  en- 
countered it,  was  at  all  times  so  vague  and  discon- 
nected from  me,  that  I  cannot  recall  him,  or  his  name, 
or  his  doings  at  all.  Perhaps  I  helped  him  to  "  sneak 
into  the  cars  "  when  they  left  Philadelphia  ;  perhaps 
I  got  him  some  "  grub  "  here  ;  perhaps  I  did  some- 
thing else  for  him ;  and  perhaps  there  was  no  John 
Steefa  at  all,  and  the  whole  scheme  may  have  been  a 
dramatisation  from  some  other  source  entirely;  which, 
of  itself,  is  of  psychological  value. 

Another  case,  of  which  I  have  just  seen  the  manu- 


OFTEN    INCONSEQUENTIAL  375 

script,  two  thick  volumes  filled  with  automatic  writ- 
ings, which  appear  to  be  genuine.  But  of  what  do 
they  consist  ?  Of  a  series  of  formal  sermons  by  some 
practised  clergyman,  with  text,  outline,  headings,  and 
all  the  paraphernalia,  directed  to  this  Christian  girl 
who  indited  them,  doubtless  effects  of  that  "  ruling 
passion  strong  in  death  "  of  some  ambitious  clergy- 
man cut  off  in  his  prime. 


VISIONS  OF  THE  SANE — APPARENTLY  AKIN  TO  CRYSTAL 

VISION 

IN  connection  with  the  phenomena  of  crystal  vision, 
I  may  refer  to  what  are  known  as  "  Visions  of  the 
Sane."  Francis  Galton  and  others  have  written  of 
these  visions,  but  their  explanations,  such  as  uncon- 
scious action  of  the  usually  idle  cerebral  hemisphere, 
etc.,  are  lamentably  weak,  as  I  know  from  my  own 
experience.  These  visions  are  dramatic  in  the  ex- 
treme, but  differ  entirely  from  the  hallucinations  of 
insanity  in  that  they  are  visualised  externally,  do  not 
possess  the  visualiser,  and,  while  not  controllable  by 
the  visualiser,  may  be  cut  off  at  will.  I  have  a  patient, 
a  most  intelligent  elderly  lady,  who  has  what  she  calls 
her  "  circus,"  at  various  times.  Many  persons,  by  an 
act  of  memory,  can  recall  past  scenes,  even  photo- 
graphically, as  it  were,  and  recollect  actions,  conversa- 
tions, etc.,  in  quite  a  dramatic  manner.  But  this  lady 
tells  me,  and  I  have  confirmed  it  experimentally,  these 
revived  memories  are  not  only  different  in  degree,  but 
different  in  kind.  The  visions  I  refer  to  are  of  the 
same  vividness  as  crystal  visions,  are,  in  fact,  as  vivid 
as  if  enacted  in  broad  daylight  before  you,  and  are 
full  of  life,  light  and  colour. 

No  scene  in  a  theatre,  no  battlefield,  can  exceed 
these  scenes  and  actions  in  vividness,  and  they  are 
always  new,  strange,  and  unexpected,  and,  as  far  as 
I  know,  are  in  no  sense  revivals  of  faded,  conscious 
memories. 

One  of  the  visions  of  this  lady,  which  visions 
usually  came  while  wide  awake,  but  mostly  while  lying 
in  bed,  was  of  a  tall,  spare  woman,  who  paraded 
up  and  down,  a  few  yards  away,  in  front  of  a  grove  of 

37<5 


VISIONS  OF  THE  SANE  377 

trees.  She  wore  a  very  rare  Indian  shawl,  of  magnifi- 
cent pattern,  which  appeared  in  all  its  rich  patterns 
and  textures,  and  her  object  was  to  display  it  at  its 
best  to  this  observer.  She  told  me  that  the  actions 
of  this  vain  shawl-wearer  were  the  most  dramatic 
and  amusing  possible,  and  continued  for  a  long 
time. 

Another  was  of  a  very  nice-looking  man,  who  had 
two  heads.  These  heads  rose  straight  up  from  the 
shoulders.  When  she  first  saw  him  he  was  endeavour- 
ing to  conceal  himself  behind  one  of  a  group  of  trees. 
But  the  tree-trunk,  while  large  enough  to  conceal  the 
body,  could  not  conceal  more  than  one  of  the  heads 
and  faces. 

In  consequence,  the  visible  head  dodged  behind 
the  tree-trunk  to  conceal  itself ;  this  brought  the 
opposite  one  into  view,  and  the  evident  mortification 
alternately  experienced  by  these  heads  was  so  graphic 
that  it  became  pathetic.  In  her  experience,  she  told 
me,  nearly  all  these  phenomena  occurred  in  front  of 
or  just  within  the  margin  of  a  grove,  or  row  of  trees, 
which  is  not  at  all  the  case  with  my  own  experiences. 

One  of  the  cases  of  this  lady  may  have  indicated 
a  dramatisation  of  a  lapsed  memory.  She  saw  a 
rather  young  lady,  whose  dress  had  caught  fire,  and 
blazed  up  suddenly  above  her  head.  As  the  flames 
rose  all  around  her,  she  turned  her  gaze  to  the  ob- 
server, and  she  told  me  that  the  look  on  her  face  was 
so  vivid  that  she  would  never  forget  it.  I  suggested 
a  look  of  horror  ;  but  she  said,  no,  that  there  was  no 
horror,  nor  fright,  nor  pain,  but  a  startled  look  of 
extreme  surprise  or  astonishment.  Some  years  be- 
fore this  the  mother  of  this  lady's  daughter's  husband, 
an  elderly  woman,  had  been  burned  to  death,  in 
her  own  house,  and  she  heroically  warned  away  the 
frightened  housemaids  who  rushed  to  her  assistance. 
But  the  lady  of  whom  I  am  speaking  was  not  there, 
did  not  see  it,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  events 
which  occurred. 

She  told  me  also  that  she  had  a  dressmaker,  who 
told  her  (from  some  hint,  I  suppose)  that  she  had 
frequently  had  these  same  experiences,  of  a  remarkable 


378  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

character,  and  that  they  often  gave  her  much  annoy- 
ance by  their  persistence. 

These  phenomena  will  often  continue  daily  or 
nightly  for  months  ;  then  they  will  cease,  and  after- 
wards reappear,  but  I  can  testify  that,  in  those  cases 
which  I  have  investigated,  neither  health,  habits, 
associations  or  modes  of  life  have  anything  to  do  with 
them. 

They  are  not  visions  of  drowsiness  ;  though  best 
seen  with  closed  eyes ;  sleepiness  and  stupidity  are 
fatal  to  their  production,  and  cause  their  disappear- 
ance if  one  begins  to  become  sleepy.  Ordinary  aches 
and  pains  do  not  affect  them,  nor  does  music,  noise, 
movement  or  conversation.  They  do  not  disappear 
with  the  withdrawal  of  attention  ;  they  keep  moving 
along  and  persisting  in  their  own  way,  and  when  the 
attention  comes  back  to  them  they  are  found  to  have 
progressed  in  the  meanwhile  just  as  actual  external 
occurrences  would  have  done. 

I  will  give  some  brief  description  of  my  own  ex- 
periences in  this  class  of  phenomena,  which  clearly 
lies  along  the  dividing  line  between  matter  and  mind, 
and  belongs  directly  to  psychology,  some  of  the  princi- 
ples of  which  they  may  serve  to  elucidate. 

In  the  first  place  these  "  Visions  of  the  Sane,"  in 
my  own  experience  and  in  that  of  others  I  refer  to, 
have  a  remarkable  peculiarity — they  move  directly 
along  their  own  way,  and  cannot  be  directed  or  con- 
trolled in  the  least  degree  by  the  volition  or  conscious- 
ness of  the  visualiser.  Hundreds  of  times  I  have 
consciously  felt  that  certain  visions,  then  undergoing 
change,  would  merge  into  certain  others  ;  but  on  the 
contrary  they  passed  on  quite  differently,  not  in  the 
way  of  a  defiance,  but  simply  ignoring  or  taking  no 
cognisance  whatever  of  what  I  had  been  imagining. 
I  could  violently  stop  the  whole  series,  by  a  consider- 
able mental  effort,  but  so  long  as  they  continued,  they 
were  as  independent  of  my  conscious  ego  as  if  they  had 
been  presented  to  me  by  a  showman  displaying  his 
unknown  patterns,  or  the  unrolling  of  an  unknown 
panorama. 

Nor  could  I  start  them  at  will ;  and  still  less  could 


VISIONS   OF   THE   SANE  379 

I  determine  what  they  should  start  with.  Here  came 
in  the  vital  difference  between  these  visions  and 
revived  memories  or  conscious  imaginings.  I  could 
make  such  pictures  at  will,  and  used  to  "  bait  "  my 
visions,  as  it  were,  but  the  real  ones  either  never  came, 
at  the  time,  or  else  my  "  vain  imaginings"  disappeared 
like  a  dream,  and  the  solid  realities,  as  it  were,  of  a 
totally  different  character,  instantly  filled  the  scene, 
and  proceeded  without  my  knowledge  of  control. 

The  next  peculiarity  is  that  I  have  never,  among 
these  thousands  of  forms  or  faces,  seen  one  which  I 
could  recognise  as  ever  having  seen  before.  No 
relatives,  no  friends,  none  of  those  whose  portraits  I 
have  been  familiar  with,  ever  appeared  ;  and  the  same 
is  true,  as  I  ascertained  by  careful  examination,  of 
those  others  who  have  had  this  same  faculty. 

They  were  all  strangers  to  me,  and,  not  only  that, 
the  scenes  were  all  strange  to  my  recollection. 

To  discredit  Galton's  hypothesis  that  these  were 
the  unconscious  working  of  an  idle  half  of  the  brain, 
one  half  creating  or  reviving,  and  tossing  the  images 
over  to  the  recording  half,  I  have  usually  seen  a  half- 
dozen  or  more  separate  actions  going  on  at  the  same 
time  all  over  the  field,  not  one  accessory  to  or  associ- 
ated with  the  others,  but  totally  different  creations 
or  presentations,  acting  totally  different  parts,  and  I 
could  study  one  set  closely,  while  I  saw  the  other 
going  on  dimly  elsewhere,  and  then  turn  to  another, 
and  carefully  examine  that,  and  so  on  at  will,  precisely 
as  if  the  objects  and  actions  were  external.  There 
never,  also,  was  a  repetition,  so  far  as  I  know,  of  the 
same  scene  or  circumstance,  and  I  have  heard  many 
conversations  going  on  at  the  same  time,  any  one  of 
which  I  could  give  my  attention  to  and  follow,  if 
desired. 

Galton,  and  other  writers,  describing  these 
phenomena,  make  no  note  of  spoken  words,  heard 
audibly,  so  far  as  consciousness  is  concerned.  But 
in  my  own  case  I  have  heard  conversations  going  on 
in  a  number  of  places  at  the  same  time,  and  I  could 
drop  one,  merely  hearing  its  hum,  and  turn  to  another 
to  listen,  and  so  on,  as  I  pleased.  I  have  often,  while 


380  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

thinking  over  other  matters,  of  business,  of  invention, 
or  normal  experiences,  heard  conversations  going  on, 
patter-patter-patter,  without  knowing  what  the  con- 
versations were  ;  but  on  stopping  my  own  line  of 
thought  and  listening,  I  immediately  heard  this  con- 
versation, just  as  I  would  in  a  room  full  of  people  ; 
finding  it  uninteresting,  as  I  usually  did,  and  relating 
to  other  and  unknown  folks,  and  their  commonplace 
experiences,  I  usually  reverted  to  my  own  work,  and 
let  the  matter  run  on.  I  never  heard  gibberish  ;  the 
conversations  were  all  intelligible.  Nor  did  I  ever 
hear  anything  purporting  to  be  revelational,  or 
spiritualistic,  or  of  a  divine  or  mystical  nature. 

But  sometimes  I  was  suddenly  forced  into  a  very 
sudden  cognisance  of  these  half -heard  conversations.  I 
always  figured  in  the  scenes  as  an  observer,  apparently 
either  standing  or  sitting,  in  front  or  alongside.  Once 
two  women  were  sitting  on  the  ground  in  front  of  me, 
but  to  the  right,  perhaps  a  yard  or  two  distant.  One 
had  her  back  to  me,  the  other  faced  her  vis-a-vis,  and 
they  were  engaged  in  earnest,  and,  it  seemed,  angry 
conversation.  I  paid  no  attention  to  them,  when 
the  one  facing  me  suddenly  rose  to  her  feet,  flung  out 
her  arm  toward  me,  and,  in  an  angry  voice  shouted, 
"  Did  you  hear  that  ?  " 

"  No  !  "  I  shouted  in  return,  and  I  shouted  it  out 
aloud,  so  that  I  startled  myself  greatly,  for  my  whole 
frame  shook  with  my  reply,  and  waked  up  my 
wife. 

Then  she  sat  down,  shaking  her  head,  and  the 
earnest  conversation  went  on  as  before. 

Another  time  two  women  occupied  a  somewhat 
similar  position  in  front  and  to  the  left.  They  were 
conversing  earnestly,  with  their  heads  together,  and 
nearly  in  whispers.  Suddenly  the  one  facing  me  said 
to  the  other,  "  Hush  !  he  will  hear  you  I "  The 
other  rose  up  from  the  ground,  deliberately  turned 
around  towards  me,  and  swept  her  eyes  over  me  in  a 
contemptuous  way  from  my  head  to  my  feet,  and  said, 
"  Well,  I  don't  think  much  of  you"  I  started  in  to 
exculpate  myself,  but  suddenly  perceiving  that  it  was 
but  a  vision,  I  forbore.  Indeed,  I  felt  a  keen  sense  of 


VISIONS  OF  THE  SANE  381 

humiliation,  although  quite  innocent  of  any  eaves- 
dropping. 

I  have  said  that  nothing  revelational  ever  appeared. 
This  might  have  been  so,  but  I  may  mention  one  case 
which  might  have  had  such  value,  but  which,  at  all 
events,  will  illustrate  what  these  visions  sometimes 
were  like. 

I  saw  three  men,  side  by  side,  coming  across  a 
field  directly  towards  me,  but  I  kept  no  particular 
account  of  them.  The  middle  one  was  tall  and  wild- 
looking,  slouch-hatted,  leather-belted,  a  sort  of  a  cow- 
boy, in  fact,  and  they  halted  immediately  in  front  of 
me.  The  tall  one  had  his  right  hand  closed  on  some 
object.  With  his  left  he  reached  out  and  suddenly 
seized  the  tip  of  the  first  finger  of  my  right  hand,  and 
pulled  my  arm  out  to  its  full  length.  I  then  saw  that 
what  he  had  in  his  right  hand  was  a  pocket  knife. 
With  this  he  cut  the  terminal  joint  off  my  finger,  and 
I  heard  and  felt  the  knife  grating  through  the  cartilage. 
Startled,  I  looked  down  at  my  finger,  and  clearly  saw 
the  white  and  glistening  joint  and  cartilage,  and  the 
blood  oozing  up  from  the  flesh  around.  Looking  at 
him,  I  saw  him  holding  the  end  of  my  finger,  with  its 
bloody  ring,  between  his  thumb  and  fingers,  and  with 
a  look  of  malicious  glee  he  opened  his  right  hand,  and 
I  saw  lying  there  an  old-fashioned  Barlow  knife,  with 
a  blood-streaked  blade.  They  whirled  around  and 
moved  off  diagonally  to  the  opposite  side  and  away 
from  me.  The  vision  was  so  vivid  that  I  carefully 
felt,  with  each  opposite  hand,  the  ends  of  every  one 
of  my  fingers,  before  I  could  convince  myself  that  some 
physical  change  had  not  occurred. 

I  spoke  of  this  incident  at  the  time  to  a  medical 
friend  or  two,  members  of  the  S.P.R. 

One  of  them  advised  me  to  take  note  of  anything 
which  should  occur  in  the  near  future,  which  might 
be  related  to  this  circumstance. 

A  month  or  two  afterwards  my  younger  son,  now  a 
captain  in  the  United  States  Army,  was  successfully 
operated  on  for  appendicitis,  and  some  time  afterwards 
the  same  trio  appeared,  but  now  walking  along  rapidly 
at  a  distance,  along  the  side  of  a  rock  path,  in  single 


382  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

file,  and  the  tall  one  in  the  middle  was  swinging  his 
arms  about  to  attract  my  attention,  which  he  finally 
did.  As  soon  as  he  saw  this,  he  raised  his  right  arm 
to  its  full  height,  obviously  holding  something  between 
his  thumb  and  fingers,  and  oscillated  it  to  and  fro 
violently,  with  the  same  malicious  grin,  until  they 
disappeared  in  the  distance. 

In  all  probability  the  event  was  a  mere  coincidence. 
I  never  observed  anything  else  of  an  analogous  nature. 


CHAPTER   XLVIII 

THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGIOUS   CONVERSION 

KINDRED  to  much  of  the  phenomena  which  I  have 
been  describing,  are  those  of  so-called  religious  con- 
version. I  have  been  quite  familiar  with  these  from 
boyhood,  as  I  grew  up  in  a  region  of  revivals  and 
camp  meetings,  and  my  profound  interest  was  early 
awakened  by  what  I  had  occasion  to  observe  during 
many  years. 

Professor  William  James,  in  his  work  on  "  The 
Varieties  of  Religious  Belief,"  deals  with  this  subject 
in  its  psychological  aspects  extensively.  He  says, 
in  his  chapter  on  this  subject,  "  I  cannot  but  think 
that  the  most  important  step  forward  that  has 
occurred  in  psychology  since  I  have  been  a  student  of 
that  science  is  the  discovery,  first  made  in  1886,  that 
in  certain  subjects  at  least,  there  is  not  only  the 
consciousness  of  the  ordinary  field,  with  its  usual 
centre  and  margin,  but  an  addition  thereto  in  the 
shape  of  a  set  of  memories,  thoughts  and  feelings, 
which  are  extra-marginal  and  outside  of  the  primary 
consciousness  altogether,  but  yet  must  be  classed  as 
conscious  facts  of  some  sort,  able  to  reveal  their 
presence  by  unmistakable  signs.  I  call  this  the 
most  important  step  forward  because,  unlike 
the  other  advances  which  psychology  has  made, 
this  discovery  has  revealed  to  us  an  entirely  unsus- 
pected peculiarity  in  the  constitution  of  human 
nature." 

This  subconscious  department  of  the  human 
mind  is  the  storehouse  and  workshop,  the  creative 
manufactory,  the  adapter,  the  controller  and  director 
of  all  the  unconscious  functions  and  processes  of  the 
living  body,  the  source,  or  at  least  the  channel,  of 
383 


384  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

genuine  invention,  inspiration,  spiritual  power,  and 
religious  and  moral  life. 

Many  persons  seem  to  overlook  this  rich  treasure, 
ignoring  its  presence,  knowing  nothing  of  its  value, 
denying  even  its  existence ;  but  they  are,  though 
stifled  to  the  extent  it  can  be  stifled,  under  its  control 
nevertheless. 

In  crystal  vision  we  indubitably  have  a  mechanism 
by  which  we  can  consciously  tap  this  treasury  of  sub- 
consciousness,  which  normally  only  appears  in  vague 
and  mystifying  dreams  ;  for  when  sleep  comes,  the 
surface  consciousness  rests,  and  the  subconsciousness 
takes  entire  control,  and  what  passes  then  we  only 
know  as  flitting  gleams. 

But  crystal  vision,  by  employing  a  trick,  as  it  were, 
connects  these  two  departments  of  the  mind,  the 
conscious  and  the  subconscious,  so  that  the  latter 
can  be  openly  read  out,  to  some  considerable  extent, 
by  the  former. 

Gazing  steadily  into  the  depths  of  the  mysterious 
crystal  (it  need  not  be  a  crystal,  but  it  must  be  some- 
thing that  can  fix  and  hold  the  consciousness,  and  yet 
not  dismiss  it  entirely),  the  surface  consciousness  be- 
comes quiescent,  as  the  enveloping  mist  rises. 

Then,  this  disturber  having  been  removed,  the 
subconsciousness  reveals  its  hidden  strata,  and  the 
watching  consciousness,  like  an  eavesdropper,  ex- 
poses the  secrets  revealed  before  its  gaze. 

Some  such  phenomena  are  connected  with  the 
"  Visions  of  the  Sane,"  and  with  the  phenomena  of 
conversion  as  well.  Many  of  the  subjects  of  this 
latter,  which  I  have  had  opportunity  to  study,  were 
friends  and  acquaintances,  other  whom  I  knew  were 
from  the  lowest  and  most  ignorant  strata  of  society, 
others  were  able  and  intelligent  men,  women  and 
children,  and  persons  whose  previous  life  had  been  of 
the  coldest  and  most  critical,  or  blasted  by  passion  or 
degraded  by  vice.  And  I  have  been  able  to  follow 
the  lives  of  many  of  those  for  years  afterwards. 

I  do  not  desire  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  these 
phenomena,  but  only  to  point  out  certain  marked 
features  bearing  directly  on  questions  of  psychology. 


RELIGIOUS   CONVERSION  385 

A  remarkable  circumstance  which  I  have  often 
observed,  and  cases  of  which  I  have  personally 
examined,  is  that  one  of  these  "  mourners  "  becomes 
suddenly  rigid,  cataleptic  and  unconscious,  while 
still  unconverted,  but  while  "  convicted  of  sin  "  in  all 
its  horror  and  intensity. 

I  know  that  many  of  these  spells  of  unconscious- 
ness were  complete  and  general.  These  subjects  often 
lay  in  this  state  for  one,  two  or  even  more  hours,  when 
they  instantaneously  "  came  to,"  and  some  process 
had  been  evidently  going  on  within,  for  they  awoke 
"  saved  "  and  triumphant. 

Some  organising  power  must  have  been  intelli- 
gently directing  these  changes  while  the  conscious- 
ness, as  a  controlling  intellectual  factor,  was  with- 
drawn. 

Now,  some  of  these  people,  whom  I  saw  and  knew, 
had  been  born  and  brought  up  in  absolute  illiteracy, 
and  among  the  worst  possible  surroundings  ;  yet  this 
sudden  change  was  permanent.  The  whole  trend  of 
their  lives  was  at  once  changed,  and  they  never  re- 
lapsed under  temptations  to  return  to  the  old  life. 
In  the  case  of  others  the  effects  were  temporary,  and 
the  old  associations  were  powerful  enough  to  subvert, 
or  the  spiritual  power  was  not  strong  enough  to  resist, 
and  they  became  "  backsliders."  Many  of  these 
became  subjects  of  conversion  afterwards,  at  other 
revivals,  and  some  over  and  over. 

In  other  cases  the  everyday  consciousness  seemed 
for  a  time  to  control  the  subconscious,  by  what  is 
called  force  of  habit.  But  in  many  cases  the  force  of 
habit  was  immediately  lost,  and  new  forces  took  its 
place — the  forces  of  spiritual  control,  which  broke  up 
these  habits  at  once,  as  hypnotic  suggestion  will  often 
do  permanently,  in  such  cases  as  the  drinking  habit, 
for  example. 

I  have  personally  investigated  many  cases  of  each 
sort,  and  have  read  of  others. 

Among  the  Red  Indians  converted  to  Christianity, 
for  instance,  the  Wyandots,  a  mixed  tribe,  and  the 
Eskimo,  there  evidently  was  no  physical  structure  of 
habit,  or  heredity,  to  produce  any  change  to  Christian 

2B 


386  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

practice  as  a  reversion,  and  yet,  among  these  peoples, 
the  action  of  this  spiritual  force  acting,  in  a  state  of  un- 
consciousness in  some  cases,  instantaneously,  was  able 
at  once  to  displace  centuries  of  habit  and  heredity, 
and  substitute  an  entirely  new  mode  of  living,  new 
principles  and  new  practice,  and  this  not  upon  human 
suggestion,  but  purely  by  something  working  to  the 
surface  from  within. 

The  scientific  study  of  these  phenomena,  and  of  the 
great  psychical  and  kindred  movements  described  by 
Dr  Hecker  in  his  "  Epidemics  of  the  Middle  Ages/1 
show  that  the  phenomena  of  pscyhology  are  the 
dominating  factors,  wherever  we  choose  to  probe. 

There  are  some  to  whom  spiritualism  is  foolishness, 
and  others  to  whom  it  is  a  stumbling  block,  who  seek 
to  explain  these  phenomena  by  auto-suggestion.  But 
this  is  mere  juggling  with  words,  unless  we  first 
explain  auto-suggestion.  It  is  certain  that  these 
phenomena  do  not  pertain  to  auto-suggestion  in  any 
sense  in  which  auto-suggestion  has  ever  had  definite 
meaning.  Most  of  these  cases  of  conversion,  as  I 
personally  know,  were  not  only  against  belief,  but 
against  even  the  will  to  believe.  These  converts  have 
fought  against  conviction  by  every  factor  of  shame, 
credulity,  feeling,  knowledge,  association  and  desire  ; 
they  have  struggled  with  all  their  power  and  in  horror 
even,  against  this  degrading  blow  (as  it  seemed  to 
them),  which  often  has  fallen  upon  them  like  a  bomb- 
shell following  a  fleeing  coward  from  battle. 

Certainly  there  was  no  auto-suggestion  in  the  sub- 
consciousness  from  the  consciousness  itself.  If  it  be 
held  that  it  was  an  auto-suggestion  from  one  stratum 
of  the  subconscious  to  another,  that  is  the  same  as  to 
explain  a  gastritis  as  caused  by  one  membrane  in- 
flaming the  other.  No,  there  are  great  psychical  and 
dynamic  agencies  like  that  which  swept  Saul  of  Tarsus 
instantaneously  into  a  new  spiritual  life,  and  in  which, 
prior  to  the  deed,  there  were  not  even  the  elements 
inside  Paul's  personality  out  of  which  to  manufacture 
an  auto-suggestion,  except  as  one  may  prove  the 
presence  of  light  by  its  absence. 

These  phenomena  are  clearly  of  that  great  psychical 


RELIGIOUS   CONVERSION  387 

class  which  has  produced  so  many,  if  not  all,  of  the 
great  ethnological  and  anthropological  changes  which 
have  modified  and  elevated  mankind,  and  which  are 
exemplified  wherever  the  study  of  comparative  re- 
ligions carries  us. 


CHAPTER    XLIX 

BIBLICAL   EVIDENCE 

To  show  how  far  so-called  "Rational  Theology"  has 
diverged  from  the  divine  revelations  on  which  it  purports 
to  be  based,  I  will  quote  the  following  from  Chapter  xv., 
entitled  "The  Word  of  God/'  of  Mrs  Professor  De 
Morgan's  "  From  Matter  to  Spirit."  This  is  the  work 
for  which  her  husband,  the  celebrated  professor  of 
mathematics  at  Cambridge  University,  wrote  the  well- 
known  preface  of  forty-five  pages,  composed  largely  from 
his  own  experiences,  from  which  I  have  already  quoted 
several  times  in  previous  chapters.  The  following  is  the 
quotation  from  Mrs  De  Morgan's  book  : — 

"  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  phrase,  the  WORD  OF 
GOD  ?  Within  the  churches  and  without  the  churches, 
applied  vaguely  by  honest  religionists,  and  falsely  by 
dishonest  ones,  the  simple  phrase,  which  in  old  times 
conveyed  the  idea  of  the  Messenger  of  Peace,  has  become 
the  watchword  of  strife. 

"  The  words  have  lost  their  first  import  as  the  know- 
ledge of  internal  spiritual  things  has  died  away.  It  is 
an  instance  of  what  has  been  already  said,  that  with  the 
growth  of  time,  expressions  and  symbols,  losing  their 
essential  meaning,  are  ill  used  by  the  theologian  and 
rejected  by  the  philosopher. 

"We  must  look  to  the  Bible,  its  acknowledged 
record,  for  the  meaning  of  the  Word,  and  we  may  find,  as 
in  other  cases,  that  when  its  specific  sense  becomes  clear 
all  the  learned  rubbish  which  has  accumulated  round  the 
phrase  will  fall  away,  taking  with  it  the  confusion  and 
discord  inseparable  from  argument  unenlightened  by 
spirit. 

"The  Hebrew  debar,  translated  Word,  bears  in  its 

388 


BIBLICAL    EVIDENCE  389 

root  the  idea  of  driving,  or  throwing  off,  that  is,  emana- 
tion or  efflux. 

"  Like  all  spiritual  influx  it  takes  different  forms 
of  manifestation.  It  comes  sometimes  as  an  audible 
voice,  sometimes  as  an  impelling  influence,  sometimes  by 
writing,  and  sometimes,  indeed  most  often,  by  vision. 
Whenever  a  prophet  utters  his  inspiration  (and  the 
different  forms  of  utterance  show  that  by  the  same  law 
which  I  have  traced  the  phrases  and  symbols  are  those 
of  the  recipient),  the  expression  is,  '  The  Word  of  the 
Lord  '  came  to  that  prophet.  The  burthen  of  a  prophet  is 
the  influx  which  presses  him,  that  which  he  must  utter 
before  he  can  speak  from  himself. 

"  In  i  Samuel  iii.  6, '  The  Word  of  the  Lord  was  rare 
in  those  days  :  visions  were  not  frequent/  '  (De  Wette's 
translation.) 

"  This  clearly  expresses  the  fact  that  the  influence 
from  God  was  at  that  time  not  often  received.  The 
history  goes  on  to  tell  of  the  voice  heard  by  the  child 
Samuel,  evidently  not  an  alarming  sound,  for  he  sup- 
posed that  Eli  had  called  him.  In  Genesis  xv.  I,  we 
find  that '  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  A  braham  in  a  vision.' 

"  In  i  Kings  xiii.  I,  '  And  behold  !  there  came  a  man 
of  God  out  of  Judah  by  the  Word  of  the  Lord '  (by  the  im- 
pelling influence).  Here  the  two  words  used  to  express 
the  divine  power  in  Man  of  God  and  Word  of  the  Lord  are 
different ;  the  prophet  is  a  man  of  the  spiritual  powers, 
Elohim  ;  the  Word  is  from  Jehovah,  the  highest  name. 

"  When  Jehoram  and  Jehosaphat  went  together 
against  the  King  of  Moab,  and  became  uneasy  as  to  the 
success  of  their  enterprise,  Jehosaphat  asks,  2  Kings 
iii.  verse  n,  '  Is  there  not  here  a  prophet  of  the  Lord,  that 
we  may  enquire  of  the  Lord  by  him  ?  ' 

One  of  the  King  of  Israel's  servants  tells  him  that 
Elisha  is  there.  The  King  replied, 

"  The  Word  of  the  Lord  is  with  him"  When  Elisha 
appeared,  the  influence  failed  to  come  ;  then  he  said, 

"  '  But  now  bring  me  a  minstrel.'  And  it  came  to 
pass  when  the  minstrel  played}  the  hand  of  the  Lord  came 
upon  him" 

In  Isaiah  ix.  8  it  is  said,  "  The  Lord  sent  a  word 
unto  Jacob,  and  it  lighted  upon  Israel." 


390  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

"  We  will  now  turn  to  the  New  Testament.  .  .  .  We 
must  remember,  that  the  Hebrew  debar  and  its  Greek 
synonym  lagos  comprehend  every  degree  of  efflux  from 
the  source  of  life,  whether  it  results  in  the  formation 
of  a  world,  in  a  prophetic  dream,  or  in  a  healing 
miracle. 

"The  Apostle  John's  description  of  THE  WORD  is 
immeasurably  more  perfect  and  more  sublime  than  any 
attempt  at  explanation  ever  made  by  scholars  or  theo- 
logians. 

" '  i.  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was 
with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God. 

"  '  2.  The  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God. 

"  '  3.  All  things  were  made  by  Him,  and  without  Him 
was  not  anything  made  that  was  made. 

"  '  4.  In  Him  [or  in  it]  was  life  ;  and  the  life  was  the 
light  of  men. 

"  '  5.  And  the  light  shineth  in  darkness  ;  and  the  dark- 
ness comprehended  it  not. 

"  '  9.  The  true  Light  was  that  which,  coming  into  the 
world,  lighteth  every  man.' 

"  The  Word  of  God,  then,  is  the  phrase  used  in 
Scripture  to  express  the  outpouring  efflux  from  our 
heavenly  Father  in  its  creating,  life-giving,  and  inspiring 
energy,  and  in  its  redeeming  and  sanctifying  power ; 
and  the  Bible  is  the  history  of  the  Word  in  all  its  degrees 
of  action  and  modes  of  manifestation,  from  the  simple 
processes  of  magnetic  healing  and  clairvoyance  to  its 
full  and  perfect  manifestation  in  the  person  of  the 
Saviour,  the  Word  made  flesh. 

"  If  this  is  true  we  may  expect  to  find  allusions  to 
various  magnetic  and  spiritual  processes  in  the  Bible. 
And  we  shall  not  be  disappointed.  I  will  first  bring  to- 
gether a  few  instances  of  spiritual  action  in  its  lowest 
forms. 

"  In  2  Kings  v.  10  we  find  a  reference  to  mesmerism 
made  in  such  words  as  to  lead  to  the  belief  that  it  was 
commonly  practised  by  the  prophets,  who  were  also  in 
early  times  called  healers.  Naaman  the  Syrian  having 
been  sent  to  the  King  of  Israel  in  order  to  be  cured  of 
his  leprosy,  Elisha  shows  him  how  much  more  powerful 
is  the  healing  which  he  practises  than  the  mesmerism 


BIBLICAL    EVIDENCE  391 

which  was  expected.  The  prophet  desires  Naaman  to 
wash  seven  times  in  Jordan. 

"  Verse  n,  '  But  Naaman  was  wroth,  and  said, 
Behold  I  thought,  he  will  surely  come  out  to  me,  and  stand, 
and  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  his  God,  and  move  up  and 
down  his  hand  {marginal  reading]  over  the  part,  and 
recover  the  leper. ,' 

"We  find  another  instance  in  the  history  of  the 
prophet  Elisha,  of  whom  Jehosaphat  says,  '  The  Word 
of  God  is  with  him.'  Hearing  of  the  death  of  the  widow's 
son,  Elisha  first  sends  his  staff  to  Gehazi,  desiring  him 
to  lay  it  on  the  face  of  the  child.  (All  mesmerisers  have 
seen  similar  processes.)  But  this  is  ineffectual,  and 
Gehazi  returns,  telling  his  master  of  the  failure. 

"  2  Kings  iv.  33.  '  He  (Elisha)  went  in  therefore,  and 
shut  the  door  upon  them  twain,  and  prayed  unto  the  Lord. 
And  he  went  up,  and  lay  upon  the  child,  and  put  his  mouth 
upon  his  mouth,  and  his  eyes  upon  his  eyes,  and  his  hands 
upon  his  hands  :  and  he  stretched  himself  upon  the  child  ; 
and  the  flesh  of  the  child  waxed  warm.  Then  he  returned, 
and  walked  in  the  house  to  and  fro  ;  and  went  up,  and 
stretched  himself  upon  him :  and  the  child  sneezed  seven 
times,  and  the  child  opened  his  eyes.1 

"  I  need  hardly  refer  to  the  direct  healing  of  our  Lord 
and  His  Apostles.  But  a  few  words  are  necessary  to 
show  that  even  these  effects  of  the  vitalising  power  of  the 
Word  were  processes  of  which  the  immediate  cause  and 
agency  can  be  traced.  If  by  miracle  we  understand  an 
act  not  coming  under  this  definition,  then  assuredly  the 
cures,  and  even  the  raising  of  the  dead  by  the  Irving 
Word,  were  not  more  miracles  than  the  birth  of  a  child 
or  the  growth  of  a  tree.  But  their  cause,  though  real  and 
apparent,  lay  far  beyond  the  reach  of  educated  or  un- 
educated humanity,  unassisted  by  spiritual  power. 
When  the  Saviour  was  among  believers,  the  very  effort  of 
His  will,  uttered  in  '  Damsel,  I  say  unto  thee,  Arise ! ' 
poured  life  into  the  lifeless  girl ;  and  in  like  manner 
His  Word  raised  the  widow's  son  and  the  entombed 
Lazarus.  When  He  restored  the  man  blind  from  birth, 
a  process  was  used,  and  the  clay  which  contained  the 
vital  influence  was  to  remain  on  the  eyes  till  washed  off 
at  the  Pool  of  Siloam.  But  we  learn  in  Mark  vi.  5  that 


392  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

'  He  could  then  do  no  mighty  work,  save  that  He  laid  His 
hands  on  a  few  sick  folk  and  healed  them.'  The  corre- 
sponding verse  in  Matthew  says,  'He  did  not  many 
mighty  works  there,  because  of  their  unbelief' 

'We  see,  then,  that  even  the  Word  itself  needs 
something  in  the  recipient  to  make  it  effective,  that 
something  is  faith,  without  which  we  can  do  nothing, 
but  with  which  we  may  by  God's  help  move  moun- 
tains. 

"  I  have  traced  the  Word  of  God  from  its  lowest 
to  its  highest  degree  of  healing.  We  find  it  also  in  earthly 
clairvoyance  and  in  heavenly  vision.  For  the  first, 
when  Saul  had  lost  his  asses,  he  went  to  the  prophet  to 
find  '  where  they  were.'  And  this  was  called  enquiring 
of  God  equally  with  the  most  important  consultations. 

"  Every  part  of  the  Bible  is  full  of  spiritual  vision 
in  every  degree,  so  that  the  enumeration  of  instances 
would  only  cease  when  the  greater  part  of  Scripture  had 
been  copied  out.  After  earthly  clairvoyance,  which 
we  find  in  Samuel  and  Baalam,  we  may  mention  divining 
in  a  cup  or  crystal,  for  the  process  is  the  same  "  (see 
Genesis  xliv.  5,  etc.). 

"  Simple  imagery,  such  as  has  often  been  met  with 
in  dreams  and  visions  in  these  days,  is  found  in  the  vision 
of  Peter,  by  which  he  was  directed  to  instruct  the  family 
of  the  Gentile  Cornelius,  who  was  himself  also  spiritually 
told  where  to  find  the  welcome  teacher,  Acts  x.-xi." 

"  A  very  simple  suggestive  vision  was  given  to  the 
Apostle  Paul,  Acts  xvi. :  '  There  stood  a  man  of  Mace- 
donia :  and  prayed  him,  saying,  Come  over  into  Mace- 
donia, and  help  us.' 

'The  sudden  conversion  of  the  Apostle  Paul  was 
brought  about  in  a  manner  which  is  intelligible  to  those 
who  have  witnessed  many  spiritual  manifestations  in 
various  forms  and  degrees. 

r<  The  outpouring  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  was 
attended  with  the  usual  concomitant  phenomena — a 
rushing  mighty  wind,  an  appearance  of  flame  or  fire  in 
the  form  of  cloven  tongues,  and  then  the  influx  of  the 
spirit. 

"  The  spiritual  writing  (Exodus  xxxii. ;  2  Chronicles 
xxi. ;  i  Chronicles  xxviii. ;  Daniel  v.)  is  mentioned  in 


BIBLICAL   EVIDENCE  393 

Scripture  in  every  degree,  from  that  by  the  hand  of  a 
prophet  to  the  direct  impress  of  the  finger  of  God. 

"  In  Exodus  xxviii.  we  find  long  directions  for  the 
construction  of  an  ephod,  or  priest's  dress,  but  there  is, 
I  believe,  only  one  passage,  verses  7  and  8  in  I  Samuel 
xxx.,  of  the  manner  in  which  it  was  used.  '  /  pray  thee 
bring  me  hither  the  ephod.  And  Abiathar  brought  the 
ephod  to  David.  And  David  enquired  at  the  Lord.' 

"  It  appears  by  this  that  the  ephod  was  not  a  cere- 
monial robe,  but  a  real  instrument,  and  David  could  use 
it  as  well  as  the  high  priest,  for  he  enquired  at  the  Lord, 
or  induced  in  himself  a  spiritual  state,  as  we  have  seen 
can  be  done,  though  in  a  lower  degree,  by  gazing  at  a 
crystal." 

(So  also,  authorities  declare,  were  used  the  two  stones, 
the  Urim  and  Thummim,  which  the  high  priest  bore 
upon  his  shoulders,  and  which  were  called  essen,  the 
oracle.) 

"  The  laying  on  of  hands  should  not  be  unnoticed  in 
an  enumeration  of  the  various  forms  in  which  we  have 
seen  a  resemblance  between  the  incidents  of  Scripture 
history  and  the  modern  phenomena.  I  have  said  that 
the  power  is  always  strengthened,  I  should  have  said 
that  it  is  apparently  communicated,  by  the  hand  of  a 
medium  laid  on  the  wrist  of  another  to  produce  writing, 
or  on  the  shoulder  to  produce  vision.  A  finger  of  a 
powerful  medium  will  convey  the  current  to  another 
person.  How  often  this  fact  is  mentioned,  or  how 
important  a  part  it  bears  in  the  history  of  the  Word,  I 
need  not  say.  In  Deut.  xxxiv.  9,  '  And  Joshua  the  son 
of  Nun  was  full  of  the  Spirit  of  Wisdom  ;  for  Moses  had 
laid  his  hands  upon  him'  ' 

See  also,  2  Timothy  i.  and  the  very  numerous  other 
instances  in  the  New  Testament  referred  to  in  the  author's 
text.  The  author  continues  : 

"We  look  down  with  supreme  contempt  on  the 
heathen,  who  attributed  to  their  deities  actions  which 
at  this  time  bring  men  to  the  gallows  ;  but  for  those  who 
have  seen  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Christ,  we  are 
no  better  than  the  heathen.  We  malign  and  misrepre- 
sent the  God  whom  we  worship.  I  had  lately  an  instance 
of  this  blasphemy  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  a  letter  from  a 


394  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

friend,  who  writes  of  the  little  children  in  a  fishing 
village  far  from  London, — 'They  are  well  taught  as 
to  conduct,  and  are  good,  kind-hearted  little  crea- 
tures, who  sit  round  and  sing  hymns  about  blood 
and  wrath  and  damnation  with  the  utmost  good 
humour.' ' 

The  author  then  asks  this  momentous  question,  which 
applies  not  only  to  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian  bibles, 
but  to  those  of  all  ages  and  peoples,  and  to  the  religious 
beliefs  and  practices  of  all  peoples  throughout  all  time, 
and  to  all  the  results  produced  by  such  bibles,  such 
religious  beliefs,  and  such  religious  practices,  of  which 
the  French  rationalist,  Le  Bon,  in  his  "  Psychology  of 
Peoples  "  says  :  "  Religious  beliefs  have  always  con- 
stituted the  most  important  element  of  the  life  of  peoples, 
and  in  consequence  of  their  history.  ...  At  all  the  ages 
of  humanity,  in  ancient  times  as  in  modern  times,  the 
fundamental  questions  have  always  been  religious 
questions.  If  humanity  could  allow  all  its  gods  to  die, 
it  might  be  said  of  such  an  event,  as  regards  its  conse- 
quences, it  would  be  the  most  important  event  that  had 
taken  place  on  the  surface  of  our  planet  since  the  birth 
of  the  first  civilisation. 

"  The  gift  of  the  gods  to  man,  and  it  is  a  gift  which 
they  alone  have  been  able  to  endow  him  with  up  to  now, 
is  a  state  of  mind  which  allows  of  happiness.  No  philo- 
sophy has  ever  been  able  as  yet  to  realise  such  an 
achievement. 

"  History  shows  us  that  people  do  not  long  survive 
the  disappearance  of  their  gods.  The  civilisations  that 
are  born  with  them  die  with  them.  There  is  nothing  so 
destructive  as  the  dust  of  dead  gods." 

The  following  is  the  momentous  question  which 
Mrs  De  Morgan  asks  in  closing  her  remarkable  book, 
"  From  Matter  to  Spirit "  :— 

"  Is  all  that  I  have  described  as  spiritual  develop- 
ment, with  all  its  accompanying  processes  and  trials, 
due  to  'unconscious  cerebration/  or  self-delusion,  or 
irregular  nervous  action,  or  imposture  ? 

"  Then  the  Bible  is  a  history  on  a  large  scale,  and 
of  great  antiquity,  of  unconscious  cerebration,  irregular 
nervous  action,  self-delusion,  and  imposture.  It  is  hard 


BIBLICAL    EVIDENCE  395 

to  say  in  what  way  those  who  pronounce  the  judgment 
can  escape  the  conclusion. 

"  The  thought  may  occur — If  it  be  true  that  the  Bible 
is  only  a  history  of  these  mesmeric  and  psychological 
phenomena,  it  loses  at  once  all  its  authority,  and  its 
sacred  character.  These  mesmeric  and  psychological 
phenomena  are  parts  of  a  great  whole,  and  are  found  to 
be  a  connecting  link  between  what  has  been  called  the 
world  of  matter  and  the  world  of  spirit.  And  the 
ascent  from  matter  to  spirit  is  not  difficult,  neither  are 
their  respective  boundaries  undefined,  if  we  remember 
that  matter  is  the  deposit  of  the  life  force,  and  that  it 
becomes  dead,  and  falls  back  into  other  forms,  only  to 
be  acted  on  by  new  forces  in  the  constant  outpouring  of 
spirit  from  the  Fountain  of  life.  We  need  not  appre- 
hend a  diminished  reverence  for  Scripture.  The  Bible 
will  be  found  full  of  instruction,  comfort,  and  hope  for 
every  soul  in  need,  and  in  every  degree  of  spiritual 
opening,  and  all  the  more  when  the  obscure  and  mysteri- 
ous passages,  whose  meaning  has  been  lost,  are  restored 
to  life  by  a  better  knowledge  of  the  states  they  describe, 
and  when  the  things  of  the  Spirit  are  recognised  in  the 
world  as  they  are  treated  of  in  the  history  of  the  Word 
of  God." 

In  direct  line  with  the  momentous  question  asked 
by  Mrs  De  Morgan,  I  quote  the  following  from  the  pen 
of  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  in  the  "  Proceedings  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research,"  part  Iviii.,  June  1909. 

"  Good  and  earnest  though  moderately  intelligent 
religious  people  sometimes  seek  to  pour  scorn  upon 
the  reality  of  any  of  these  apparent  communications 
— not  for  any  scientific  reason,  but  for  reasons  born 
of  prejudice.  They  think  that  it  is  not  a  worthy 
occupation  for  '  just  men  made  perfect '  '  who  have 
entered  into  felicity  '  to  be  remembering  trivial  and 
minute  details,  under  circumstances  of  exceptional 
difficulty,  for  the  purpose  of  proving  to  those  left 
behind  the  fact  of  survival  and  the  continuance  of 
personal  identity.  It  is  taken  for  granted  that  saints 
ought  to  be  otherwise  occupied  in  their  new  and  lofty 
and  favoured  conditions. 

"  But  seriously,  is  it  not  legitimate  to  ask  these 


396  SPIRIT   AND   MATTER 

good  people  whether,  if  an  opportunity  of  service  to 
brethren  arises,  an  effort  to  seize  it  may  not  be  made 
even  by  a  saint  ?  Whether  this  notion  of  perennial 
service  is  not  in  accordance  with  their  own  doctrines 
and  beliefs  ?  And  whether  they  are  not  impressed  by 
that  clause  in  the  creed  of  most  Christians  which 
roundly  asserts  that  their  Master  descended  into 
Hades  ?  for  purposes  which  in  another  place  are 
suggested.  Whereby  they  may  learn  that,  even  after 
such  a  Life  and  Death  as  that,  Felicity  was  not  entered 
into  save  after  an  era  of  further  personal  service  of 
an  efficient  kind.  Those  who  interpret  the  parables 
in  such  a  way  as  to  imagine  that  dignified  idleness 
is  the  occupation  of  eternity — that  there  will  be 
nothing  to  do  hereafter  but  idly  to  enjoy  the  beatific 
contemplation  and  other  rewards  appropriate  to  a 
well-spent  life  or  to  well-held  creeds,  free  from  re- 
morse of  every  kind,  and  without  any  call  for  future 
work  and  self-sacrifice — such  people  will  probably 
some  day  find  themselves  mistaken,  and  will  realise 
that  as  yet  they  have  formed  a  very  inadequate  con- 
ception of  what  is  meant  by  that  pregnant  phrase, 
'  the  Joy  of  the  Lord.'  ' 

Who  is  there  whose  heart  has  not  thrilled  in  the 
reading  of  Leigh  Hunt's  divinely  beautiful  "  Abou  Ben 
Adhem,"  who  awakened  to  find,  within  his  room, 
an  angel  writing,  in  a  book  of  gold,  the  names  of  those 
who  love  the  Lord  ? 

"  '  And  is  mine  one  ?  8   said  Abou.     -  Nay,  not  so,' 
Replied  the  angel.     Abou  spoke  more  low, 
But  cheerly  still ;  and  said,  '  I  pray  thee,  then, 
Write  me  as  one  that  loves  his  fellow-men.1 
The  angel  wrote,  and  vanished.     The  next  night 
It  came  again,  with  a  great  wakening  light, 
And  showed  the  names  whom  love  of  God  had  blest ; 
And  lo  I  Ben  Adhem's  name  led  all  the  rest  !  " 


CHAPTER  L 

GENERAL  CONSIDERATION  OF  THE  SUBJECT — THE 
PHENOMENA  PRACTICALLY  CONCEDED  BY  THE  VERY 
AUTHORITIES  POPULARLY  SUPPOSED  TO  DENY  THEM — 
ANTAGONISTIC  THEORIES  HAVE  ALL  BROKEN  DOWN 
IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  RECENT  SCIENCE — THE  CRITERIA 
OF  TRUTH — CONCLUSION 

I  COULD,  of  course,  fill  a  volume  with  narratives  of  super- 
normal phenomena — that  is  to  say,  with  phenomena 
necessarily  classed  at  present  as  supernormal,  but  which, 
later  on,  will  be  recognised  as  normal  whenever  genius, 
invention,  inspiration  and  clairvoyance  and  the  like,  are 
both  understood  and  recognised  as  normal,  as  they  will 
be  ;  that  is,  as  normal  but  as  exceptional,  for  they  will 
never  become  common,  and  they  ought  not  to  become 
so. 

In  the  language  of  Garth  Wilkinson,  "  The  rareness 
of  communication  between  the  two  worlds  is  to  me  one 
of  the  greatest  of  miracles ;  a  proof  of  the  economic 
wisdom,  the  supreme  management,  the  extraordinary 
statesmanship  of  the  Almighty.  My  whole  soul,  perfectly 
convincible  by  the  other  side,  knows  this  for  me  ;  and 
floods  me  with  the  power  of  it  every  hour." 

I  have  in  previous  chapters  of  this  book  cited  Thomas 
H.  Huxley,  who  says,  "  If  I  were  obliged  to  choose 
between  absolute  materialism  and  absolute  idealism,  I 
should  feel  compelled  to  accept  the  latter  alternative." 
I  have  cited  John  Stuart  Mill,  to  show  that  his  whole 
theory  of  constructive  and  automatic  idealism,  by  his 
own  confession,  broke  down  utterly  in  view  of  the  in- 
explicable phenomena  of  that  which  is  past  and  that 
which  is  present  being  together  conceived  of  as  present — 
that  is,  the  inexplicability  of  continuity  in  the  absence 
of  a  continuing  psychical  agent. 

397 


398  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

I  have  cited  Herbert  Spencer,  in  his  final  message,  in 
dealing  with  ultimate  questions  for  the  first  time,  that 
our  consciousness  is  a  specialised  and  individualised  form 
of  that  Infinite  and  Eternal  Energy,  and  that  the  lesser 
was  derived  from  the  greater,  and  that,  if  eternal  is 
predicated  of  the  one,  it  must  be  predicated  of  the  other. 

And  I  have  cited  also  from  Dr  W.  B.  Carpenter, 
much  to  his  prejudice  as  an  unbiassed  scientific  man. 
It  affords  me  now,  as  with  the  others  named,  pleasure 
to  measure  Carpenter  himself  against  his  more  formal 
writings,  and  give  him  credit  for  what  most  readers  will 
interpret  as  a  like  concession,  when  the  crisis  of  disbelief 
had  been  squarely  encountered. 

It  is  well  known  that,  in  dealing  with  these 
phenomena,  he  laid  all  or  nearly  all  his  stress  on  what 
he  called  " unconscious  cerebration" — that  is  to  say,  the 
action  of  the  physical  brain,  or,  at  all  events,  the  brain 
as  a  physical  producer  of  supernormal  phenomena, 
precisely  as  it  appears  to  be  the  producer  of  normal 
phenomena.  In  his  letter  to  the  Dialectical  Society, 
dated  24th  December  1869,  he,  however,  narrows  his 
claims,  concluding  his  abstract  with  the  following 
significant  language,  which  I  am  sure  no  psychologist 
can  read  to-day  without  perceiving  that  this  dis- 
tinguished, but  often  unfair,  author,  in  the  crisis 
confronting  him,  made  almost  the  same  concessions 
as  were  made  by  the  other  opponents  named.  This  is 
his  language  : 

"  And  every  course  of  self-discipline  thus  steadily  and 
honestly  pursued,  tends  not  merely  to  clear  the  mental 
vision  of  the  individual,  but  to  ennoble  the  race ;  by 
developing  that  power  of  immediate  insight,  which,  in 
man's  highest  phase  of  existence,  will  not  only  supersede 
the  laborious  operations  of  his  intellect,  but  will  reveal 
to  him  truths  and  glories  of  the  unseen,  which  the 
intellect  alone  can  see  but '  as  through  a  glass  darkly/ ' 

It  seems  then  that  after  all  theories  and  hypotheses 
of  automatism,  self-constructive  idealism,  materialism, 
empiricism,  self-causation,  nature,  chance,  accident  and 
agnosticism  have  been  run  out  and  failed,  there  is  left 
but  one  single  residuum,  identical  in  every  case,  and  that 


CONSIDERATION  OF   SUBJECT        399 

this  is  transcendentalism,  divinity  and  spiritualism. 
We  will  thus  come,  after  the  most  elaborate  research, 
and  the  testing  into  absurdity  of  all  alternatives,  back 
to  that  primal  truth  recognised  in  all  ages  among  all 
peoples,  and  appealing  directly  to  what  Dr  Carpenter 
called  "  that  power  of  immediate  insight,  which,  in  man's 
highest  phase  of  existence,  will  not  only  supersede  the 
laborious  operations  of  his  intellect,  but  will  reveal  to 
him  truths  and  glories  of  the  unseen,  which  the  intellect 
alone  can  see  but  '  as  through  a  glass  darkly.' ' 

These  truths  and  glories  thus  revealed  by  immediate 
insight,  and  which  the  intellect  alone  can  never  see,  or 
see  but  darkly,  are  the  bases  of  every  religion  which 
exists  or  ever  has  existed ;  which  truths  have  made 
religion  universal  in  all  places  and  ages  ;  and,  after  all 
the  labours  of  science,  scepticism,  atheism,  materialism 
and  agnosticism  have  been  exhausted,  we  find,  still 
revealed,  to-day,  unassailed  and  unassailable,  the  same 
fundamental  truths  as  those  primal  ones  of  the  past. 

The  criteria  of  truth  ?  Are  there  such  ?  and  if  so, 
in  what  do  they  consist,  and  what  is  their  value  ? 

Asked  Pilate,  "What  is  truth?"  Is  there  no 
answer  ?  If  we  are  of  God,  then  there  is  an  answer ; 
if  we  are  not  of  God,  then  the  answer  does  not  matter. 
But  if  we  are  of  God  let  us  not  ignore  Him  and  His 
revelation  ;  let  us  not  forget  the  old  Scotch  farmer : 
"  All  these  years  God  has  been  looking  at  us,  and  all 
these  years  we  have  been  shaming  Him."  For  that  is 
the  possible  price  and  penalty  of  free-will.  God  does 
not  want  puppets. 

Not  alone  the  future  of  each  one  of  us  depends  upon 
these  truths,  but  the  future  of  every  people  and  nation, 
and,  finally,  of  the  race,  and,  if  man  is  the  culmination 
of  the  universe,  then  of  the  universe,  itself  ;  for  we  are 
all  bound  up,  willy-nilly,  together  ;  the  solidarity  of  the 
universe  is  the  great  dominating  principle  of  science, 
philosophy,  ethics  and  religion,  nay,  of  humanity. 

Says  Walt  Whitman  in  his  "Memoranda  of  the  War" : 
"  As  only  that  individual  becomes  truly  great  who  under- 
stands well  that,  while  complete  in  himself  in  a  certain 
sense,  he  is  but  part  of  the  divine,  eternal  scheme,  and 
whose  special  life  and  laws  are  adjusted  to  move  in 


400  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

harmonious  relation  with  the  general  laws  of  nature,  and 
especially  with  the  moral  law,  the  deepest  and  highest 
of  all,  and  the  last  vitality  of  man  or  State — so  those 
nations  may  only  become  the  greatest  and  most  con- 
tinuous, by  understanding  well  their  harmonious  rela- 
tions with  entire  humanity  and  history,  and  all  their 
laws  and  progress,  and  sublimed  with  the  creative 
thought  of  Deity,  through  all  time,  past,  present  and 
future.  Thus  will  they  expand  to  the  amplitude  of  their 
destiny,  and  become  splendid  illustrations  and  culminat- 
ing parts  of  the  cosmos,  and  of  civilisation." 

There  are  criteria  of  truth,  but  not  in  mere  specula- 
tions from  passing  phenomena,  ignoring  their  source  and 
destiny,  not  in  hypotheses  shifting  with  every  swing  of 
the  scientific  pendulum,  not  from  what  Lord  Salisbury 
described  as  vague  and  flickering  lights  in  an  ocean  of 
impenetrable  darkness,  nor  in  Hume's  showers  of  dis- 
connected sensations,  nor  in  Berkeley's  idealism  "  shift- 
ing with  the  shifting  present,"  nor  in  Locke's  tabula 
rasa  sketched  upon  by  our  own  weak,  fragmentary  and 
most  often  worthless  experiences,  but  the  vast,  moving 
panorama  of  the  ages,  a  work  worthy  of  the  supreme 
divine,  and  only  possible  in  source,  movement,  operation, 
purpose  and  destiny  to  the  supreme  divine,  and  with 
every  human  being  linked  therewith  as  working  parts 
and  co-partners  of  "  One  Stupendous  Whole."  Here  we 
can  rest. 

Of  the  criteria  of  truth,  Professor  Bowen  says,  in  his 
"Modern  Philosophy,"  "To  Leibnitz  belongs  the  credit 
of  being  the  first  to  point  out  and  establish  these  two 
criteria,  or  tests  and  proofs  of  Innate  Ideas,  to  wit, 
universality  and  necessity.  Whatever  is  universally 
true,  true  not  merely  so  far  as  my  experience,  or  as  the 
experience  of  the  whole  human  race,  has  gone,  but  true 
everywhere,  and  at  all  times,  true  under  all  circumstances 
and  conditions,  and  without  any  exceptions  of  limitations 
whatever — that  is  an  innate  truth,  or  one  which  had  its 
origin  in  the  soul  itself,  and  was  not  impressed  upon  us 
through  the  senses,  or  from  the  world  without.  Again, 
whatever  is  necessarily  and  absolutely  true — that  is, 
so  true  that  neither  you  nor  I  can  even  imagine  it  to  be 
false  under  any  circumstances  whatever— that  also  is 


CONSIDERATION  OF  SUBJECT         401 

innate,  or  had  its  origin  in  the  very  constitution  of  the 
mind.  Now  these  two  criteria  are  always  found  to  go 
together,  each  involving  the  other,  so  that,  in  fact,  they 
coincide  and  form  but  a  single  test.  Whatever  cognition 
is,  must  for  that  very  reason  be  universal ;  and  in  like 
manner  it  could  not  be  absolutely  universal,  if  it  were 
not  also  necessary.  And  the  number  of  truths  is  not 
small  which  possess  these  two  decisive  characteristics ; 
whole  Sciences  are  made  up  of  them  alone." 

Yet  many  of  these  truths,  he  says,  are  not  learned 
until  in  later  life  ;  often  not  until  these  sciences  are 
studied.  But  he  adds  :  "  What  of  that  ?  When  you 
learned  them,  did  you  accept  them  as  true  merely  because 
the  book  or  your  teacher  said  so,  or  did  the  instruction 
so  received  merely  direct  your  attention  towards,  and 
bring  out  into  distinct  consciousness,  what  was  already 
implicitly  in  your  mind,  and  what  was  then  first  recog- 
nised, or  known  over  again,  as  resting  on  its  own  evidence, 
shining  by  its  own  light,  far  down  in  the  recesses  of  your 
intellect  ?  " 

Leibnitz  founded  his  whole  system  on  the  validity  of 
these  criteria,  as  establishing  an  immutable  knowledge 
of  God  as  the  originator,  sustainer  and  preserver,  and  of 
our  own  soul  as  the  receiver  of  God's  knowledge. 

And  Carlyle  expressed  the  same  truth  in  saying  that 
"  No  lie  can  endure  for  ever." 

The  late  President  McCosh,  in  his  "Criteria  of 
Different  Kinds  of  Truth,"  lays  down  three  tests,  which, 
taken  together,  will  establish  any  truth  absolutely,  of 
that  kind  of  truth  which  we  are  entitled  to  assume 
without  mediate  proof — that  is,  directly. 

The  first  criterion  is  self-evidence — that  is  to  say, 
one  in  which  we  perceive  an  object  to  exist  by  merely 
looking  at  it,  as  that  of  our  own  consciousness,  or  exist- 
ence of  self.  We  are  convinced  that  we  need  no  further 
proof  of  such  truths,  nor  would  outside  evidence  add  to 
the  strength  of  our  conviction.  This  is  so  obvious  and 
self-evident,  even  at  second-hand,  that  if  a  man  persists 
in  believing  that  he  is  dead,  when  we  know  that  he  is 
alive,  we  either  put  that  man  into  an  insane  hospital,  or 
cut  off  his  alcohol.  The  thing  is  simply  incredible. 

Now  it  has  been  often  asserted,  and  is  a  truth  of  this 

2C 


402  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

nature,  that  every  man,  taken  at  some  point,  or  under 
some  circumstances,  and  irrespective  of  his  belief  in 
externally  presented  faiths,  is  to  some  extent  super- 
stitious. This  perception  includes  many  forms,  and 
manifests  itself  in  the  most  unexpected  ways,  but  there 
are  very  few,  if  any,  who  will  assert  that  they  are  totally 
unaffected  by  such  influences,  and  in  these  exceptional 
cases  they  only  claim  that  they  are  exempt  by  having 
reasoned  themselves  out  of  these  notions  ;  the  thinness 
of  this  veneer,  and  its  deceptive  character,  are  brought 
out  at  once  by  a  swift  change  in  life,  an  overwhelming 
disaster,  or  the  sudden  development  of  radically  new 
and  startling  conditions,  as  a  shipwreck,  an  earthquake, 
an  incomprehensible  darkness,  or  the  roar  and  rush  of 
an  angry  and  threatening  sea.  As  Shakespeare  says, 
"  Conscience  makes  cowards  of  us  all,"  and  conscience 
is  but  that  inner  voice  which  the  surface  consciousness 
only  knows  as  a  superstition.  But  it  is  also  an  im- 
mutable and  universal  truth. 

What  would  mankind  be  without  sentiment  ?  And 
yet,  is  sentiment  but  a  superstition  ?  A  recent  writer, 
Joel  Chandler  Harris,  beautifully  says  :  "  It  is  a  rule 
that  everything  beautiful  and  precious  in  this  world 
should  have  mystery  attached  to  it.  There  is  the  en- 
during mystery  of  art,  the  mystery  that  endows  plain 
flesh  and  blood  with  genius.  A  little  child  draws  you 
by  its  beauty  ;  there  is  a  mystery  unfathomable  in  its 
eyes.  You  enter  a  home,  no  matter  how  fine,  no  matter 
how  humble  ;  it  may  be  built  of  logs,  and  its  furnishings 
may  be  of  the  poorest ;  but  if  it  is  a  home,  a  real  home, 
you  will  know  it  unmistakably  the  moment  you  step 
across  the  threshold.  Some  subtle  essence,  as  mysteri- 
ous as  thought  itself,  will  find  its  way  to  your  mind  and 
enlighten  your  instinct.  You  will  know,  however  fine 
the  dwelling,  whether  the  spirit  of  home  dwells  there." 

All  this  is  in  one  sense,  but  a  very  high  sense,  super- 
stition— that  is  to  say,  it  cannot  be  worked  out  by  logic, 
or  demonstrated  by  reason.  It  exists  alone,  it  stands 
above,  like  our  knowledge  of  self,  directly,  and  by  its 
own  self-evidence.  So  mother-love,  our  abhorrence  of 
cannibalism,  our  patriotism,  civilisation,  religion,  honour, 
honesty,  self-respect,  decency,  manhood  and  woman- 


CONSIDERATION  OF  SUBJECT         403 

hood,  all  these  have  only  the  self-same  basis,  supersti- 
tion ;  they  are  all  superstitions  ;  they  "  stand  above  " 
the  brute  man,  for  that  is  what  the  word  signifies,  but 
they  make  him  the  divine  man.  To  the  materialist  these 
notions  are  dyspepsia-born  ghosts ;  to  the  spiritualist 
they  are  the  most  real,  most  original  and  divine  of  all 
created  or  implanted  things. 

The  second  criterion  of  truth  is  necessity.  That  is 
to  say,  physical  science  takes  cognisance  of  all  it  can  bring 
within  its  grasp  and  analyse  ;  but  it  concedes,  and  must 
concede,  that  behind  its  phenomena  lie  whole  realms  of 
causes  and  effects,  of  forces  and  energies,  of  space  and 
time,  which,  in  order  to  make  our  knowledge  complete, 
demand  to  be  explained,  and  physics  simply  ignores 
them,  and  yet  they  constitute  all  the  fundamentals  of 
nature,  while  science  still  acknowledges  their  necessity 
and  overwhelming  importance.  If  these  are  non- 
physical,  then  they  are  truths  incontestably  trans- 
cendental. If  agnosticism  is  simply  know-nothing-ism, 
then  this  great  universe  of  the  physically  unseen  and  un- 
known, which  lies  behind  and  all  around,  and  even  within, 
the  visible  phenomena  of  nature,  is  not  the  less  real,  but 
in  fact  the  more  real,  and,  viewed  with  relation  to  an 
eternal  time  and  an  illimitable  space,  the  only  real. 
And  this  great  truth  is  demanded  and  posited  by 
necessity,  and  cannot  be  questioned  or  denied.  The 
"  stone  wall  "  of  the  agnostics  is  only  a  stone  wall  in  the 
self-limited  view  of  those  who  have  merely,  from  a  false 
perspective,  imagined  the  wall.  How  many  false  views 
disappear  as  we  approach  them !  Those  who  can  see 
beyond  this  imaginary  wall,  and  use  their  insight,  see 
truths  and  glories  which  science,  by  its  claimed 
"  agnosticism,"  fails  to  see,  and  these  are  they,  and 
always  have  been,  who  are  the  kings  and  rulers  of  men, 
and  not  those  galley-slaves  who  sit  self-chained  in  dark- 
ness, and  pull  the  unintelligent  oar. 

The  third  criterion  is  universality ;  that  the  truth 
in  question  is  and  ever  has  been  believed  by  all  men.  It 
is  the  universal  consensus  of  humanity  to  which 
spiritualists  appeal,  and  it  has  been  well  said  that  nothing 
universally  believed  by  all  men,  and  through  all  human 
ages,  has  ever  been  based  on  anything  but  truth.  From 


404  SPIRIT   AND    MATTER 

this  consensus  the  appeal  meets  with  universal  assent 
all  through  the  past  and  present ;  and  on  these  three 
criteria,  in  which  all  the  facts  agree,  spiritualists  have  a 
right  to  hold  that  the  truth  has  been  established,  irre- 
spective even  of  the  vast  flood  of  universal  demonstrative 
evidence,  which  equally  supports  its  conclusions. 

Everyone  who  believes  in  luck,  as  contradistinguished 
from  chance,  or  in  genius,  or  conscience,  or  self-sacrifice 
for  the  sake  of  others  ;  everyone  who  feels  remorse,  or 
is  influenced  to  higher  things  by  aspiration ;  everyone 
who  thinks  a  prayer  in  distress,  or  turns  to  something 
higher  and  better  than  man  in  calamity  and  sorrow,  is 
at  heart  a  spiritualist,  be  his  avowed  faith  what  it  may. 

The  hypotheses  of  animism,  or  a  world-soul,  or  a 
soul  of  nature,  every  theory  of  angels  or  demons,  or  of 
influx  and  efflux,  every  proposed  hypothesis  on  which 
transcendental  facts  are  sought  to  be  explained,  meet 
with  as  earnest  consideration  from  spiritualists  as  from 
those  who  announce  them.  There  is  no  antagonism 
here,  and  further  research  is  gladly  welcomed,  wherever 
the  truth  of  these  facts  may  lead. 

But  there  are  three  great  classes  of  underlying 
phenomena  which  are  strongly  in  favour  of  belief,  to 
that  extent  at  least,  in  individual  spirits.  In  the  first 
place,  these  intelligences,  when  manifesting  themselves, 
universally  claim  to  be  the  departed  surviving  spirits 
of  the  dead,  and  seek  to  identify  themselves  and  to 
establish  their  identity  in  every  possible  manner.  It  is 
difficult  to  believe,  if  these  phenomena  are  merely  results 
of  extra-human  but  non-individualised  forces,  that  such 
a  persistent  and  overwhelming  course  of  deception, 
simple  lying  in  fact,  should  be  universally  carried  on, 
to  no  possible  purpose  it  would  appear. 

And,  secondly,  the  facts  of  prophecy  or  prevision, 
among  these  phenomena,  which  relate  to  individual 
experiences  yet  to  appear,  can  hardly  be  explained 
except  on  the  ground  of  conscious  individuality  on  the 
part  of  the  unseen  communicator,  for  clairvoyance  is 
individual  in  the  clairvoyant,  who  can  but  repeat 
whatever  the  agencies  with  which  he  may  be  in  contact, 
limited  or  universal,  influence  him  to  say,  of  the  un- 
known future.  And  thirdly,  in  the  well-known  pheno- 


CONSIDERATION  OF  SUBJECT         405 

mena  of  the  Phantasms  of  the  Living,  in  which  we  know, 
in  many  cases,  that  discarnate  individualities  of  the 
living,  far  away  from  their  bodily  selves,  do  thus  visibly 
and  sensually  manifest  themselves.  It  is  a  mere  ex- 
tension of  these  phenomena  that  the  same  should  be 
true,  in  authenticated  cases,  of  those  who  bring  evidence 
that  they  come  as  discarnate  individualities,  as  spirits 
of  the  dead,  whose  bodily  selves  are  dissolving  or  are 
dissolved,  far  away,  into  the  dust  from  which  they  were 
built  up  into  human,  living  and  sentient  beings.  The 
cases  are  surely  analogous. 

Be  all  this  as  it  may,  be  the  hypotheses  what  they 
may,  whether  one  or  the  other  be  finally  established 
to-day,  or  left,  as  the  immeasurably  vaster  body  of 
science  is  still  left,  to  future  demonstration,  the 
phenomena  themselves  are  real  and  true.  Not  all  may 
be  real  and  true,  not  all  of  anything  may  be  real  and 
true,  but  so  much  has  been  immutably  established,  so 
much  may  be  demonstrated  by  a  little  time  and  labour 
with  one's  own  friends,  with  one's  wife  and  children,  or 
with  one's  parents,  so  much  can  be  established  in  indi- 
vidual cases,  anywhere,  and  by  actual  scientific  proof, 
that  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  doubt  or  dispute  the  facts. 
And  the  facts  are  obviously  supernormal  and  super- 
human, unless  every  human  being  himself  is  omnipresent, 
omniscient,  and  outside  all  the  laws  of  physics.  And  so 
the  onus  is  on  those  who  deny,  and  will  not  look,  and  no 
longer  on  those  who  look,  see,  observe  and  demonstrate. 
The  correct  spirit  is  that  of  St  John  :  "  Try  the  spirits." 
There  is  no  vein  on  this  earth  which  will  pan  out  for  all 
mankind  richer  gold  and  gems,  nor  with  so  little  time 
and  labour ;  and  no  mine  the  product  of  which  will  so 
enrich,  not  only  for  time,  but  for  eternity,  the  earnest 
and  honest  seeker. 

To  quote  from  Lord  Tennyson,  the  most  scientific, 
the  most  Christian,  of  all  the  great  poets  : 

J?  The  Ghost  in  Man,  the  Ghost  that  once  was  Man, 
But  cannot  wholly  free  itself  from  Man, 
Are  calling  to  each  other  thro1  a  dawn 
Stranger  than  earth  has  ever  seen  ;  the  veil 
Is  rending,  and  the  Voices  of  the  day 
Are  heard  across  the  Voices  of  the  dark." 


GENERAL  INDEX   OF  SUBJECTS  AND  AUTHORITIES 


ABERCROMBIE,  J.,  On  unlimited 
scepticism,  126 

—  Is  the  part  of  a  contracted  mind,  126 
Agnosticism,  Results  in  the  Church,  38 

—  Multiplication  of  sects,  38 

—  Loss  of  faith,  38 

—  The    stone     wall     an     imaginary 

one,  403 

Aguilar,  Don  Sanchez  de,  His  qualifica- 
tions, 301 

—  Investigation    of    Yucatan    polter- 

geist case,  301 

Alderman,  Frank  R.,  Experiments  in 
externalising  the  consciousness 
under  hypnosis,  285-287 

Animism,  The  hypothesis  of  World- 
soul  considered,  404 

Anthropology,  Study  of,  9 

—  Deals  with  human  testimony  in  the 

past,  302 

Apparitions,  Apparitional  case  by  Dean 
of  Medical  College,  340 

—  Case  reported  by  Professor  Barrett, 

F.R.S.,  342-344 

—  Two  apparitional  cases   by  T.  A. 

Trollope,  344-347 

—  Case  reported  by  F.  W.  H.  Myers, 

347-349 

—  Case  reported  by  the  Author,  357- 

364 

—  Experiences    of   the    Author   with 

another  medium,  365-371 

—  Clinical    examination   of    medium 

after  trance,  369 

—  Question     of     hallucinations    con- 

sidered, 364 

—  Means    used    by     apparition     for 

identification,  357 

A  priori,  Acceptance  without  demon- 
stration ;  fatal  to  science,  9 

—  The    "  thimble  -  rig  "    of    pseudo- 

science,  71 

—  The  ban  against  scientific  advance, 

76 

—  Compared  with    "  odium  theologi- 

cum,"  159 

—  Romanes    on    unbelief ;      due     to 

indolence  or  prejudice,  252 

—  Doubt  may  be  scientific  ;   denial  on 

a  priori  never,  252 

Arago,  On  scientific  doubt  contrasted 
with  incredulity,  126 

—  Reserve,  above  all,  a  necessity  ia 

dealing  with  the  animal  organisa- 
tion, 126 

407 


Arnold,   Sir  Edwin,  A  body  of  well- 
established  facts,  250 
Author,  Answer  to  allegation,  "  Hard 

on  Science,"  177-178 
Authorities  cited — 

Abercrombie,  126 

Aguilar,  301 

Alderman,  285-287 

Arnold,  250 

Arago,  126 

Archimedes,   147 

Author,  177-178 

Bacon,  152,  153,  155 

Baer,  181 

Balbiani,  181,  183 

Balfour,  181 

Barker,  150 

Barnett,  39 

Barrett,     181,    224,    225,    277-285, 
279-281 

Bateson,  225-226 

Bayley,  295,  339-342,  368 

Berkeley,  209,  212 

Bible,   9,    22,    23,    25,    55,    105-106, 
92-109,  180,  270,  388-393 

Binet,  181,  182-183,  183 

Bingham,  54 

Bois-Reynard,  181 

Booth,  348-349 

Boris-Sidis,  181 

Bosco,  253 

Bowen,  146,  400 

Bradley,  28,  29 

Bramwell,  181 

Brine,  273 

Brinton,  56,  181,  273 

Broca,  57 

Brooks,  181 

Browning,  216 

Burton,  252 

Biichner,  135 

Butchli,  181 

Bunge,  181 

Butler,  181 

Calvin,  24 

Cano,  273 

Canons,  Church  of  England,  5 

Carlyle,  265,  266,  401 

Carpenter,  W.  B.,  252,  398 

Carpenter,  J.  Estlin,  82-83 

Chamberlain,  307-309 

Charcot,  284 

Christ,  Jesus,  5,  7,  25,  26,  28,  96,  101, 

IO2,    193,   2OI 

Chopin,  49 


408 


GENERAL   INDEX   OF 


Authorities  cited — continued 
Church,  65,  66,  128 
Churchill,  209 
Cicero,  48 

Comte,  83,  84,  103,  205,  209,  210 
Conn,  52,  53,  181,  218,  225,  235 
Cook,  257-260 
Crockett,  Davy,  172 
Crockett,  S.  R.,  187,  188 
Crooke,  386 
Crookes,     105,     181,    235,    236-237, 

237-238,  239 
Crossland,  250 
Cuvier,  133 
Dabney,  287 

Darwin,  85,  150-151,  219,  223 
Davey,  250 
Davies,  5,  57-58 
De  Morgan,  125,  231,  232,  290,  291- 

292,  388-393.  395 
Dennett,  195-196,  267 
Descartes,  206 
De  Vries,  181 
Dujardin,  181 
Dudley,  340-341 
Du  Prel,  36,  181 
Ehrenberg,  181 
Ellinwood,  58 
Emerson,  161,  289 
Engelmann,  181 
Erasmus,  23 
Eskimo,  198,  267 
Eve,  96,  97-101 
Farrar,  23-24 
Fechner,  148,  181 
Flammarion,  175,  181 
Flournoy,   181 
Fol,  181 
Foster,  94 

Franklin,  76,  354-355 
Franklin,  Sir  John,  31 
French  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences, 

233 

Fresnel,  353 
Geikie,  181 
Gibier,  181 
Gladden,  6-7 
Gladstone,  73,  113 
Goodrich-Freer,      181,      251,      274, 

283 

Gordon,  303-305 
Gould,  96 

Graham,  134,  181,  296-299 
Gruber,  181,  183 
Haeckel,  12,  104,  171,  217-218,  218- 

219,  220,  226-229 
Hamilton,  210 
Hammond,  11-12,  107,  213 
Harris,  402 
Harrison,  209 
Hartmann,     Von,     95,     147,     156- 

158,  222 

Hayden,  291-292 
Hecker,  386 


Authorities  cited — continued 
Herron,  38 

Herschel,  45,  158,  175-176,  223,  352 
Hilprecht,  181 
Hockley,  251-252 
Hodgson,  181,  295-299,  327-329 
Holmes,  149,  230 
Hough,  316-320 
Huggins,  236 
Hume,  88-91,  205,  208 
Hunt,  396 
Huxley,  10,  u,  74-75,  90,  103,  113- 

114,  177,  212-213,  397 
Hyslop,  181 
Illman,  335-336 
Ingersoll,    119 
Irenaeus,  29 
Jalalu'd  Din,  242 
James,  4,  59,  181,  223,  224,  383 
Janet,  176,  181 

Jevons,  110-114,  124,  127,  290 
Johnson,  Samuel,  309-310 
Johnson,  Alice,  310 
Jordan,  181 
Kant,  158,  222 
Kelvin,  Lord,  94-95,  181,  200 
Kepler,  69 
Kidd,  103,  106,  181 
King,  President,  181 
King,  John,  318-320 
King,  Katie,  256-260 
Kipling,  146 
Klebs,  181 
Knott,  262-263 
Koelliker,  181 
Kiinnstler,  181 
Ladd,  147 
Langley,  181 
Lamarck,  46-47,  133 
Lane,  311 
Lang,  181,  279,  283 
Lao  Tsze,  155-156 
Laplace,  125 
Lardner,  23 

Layman,  303-306,  336-337 
Leaf,  181 
Le  Bon,  193,  394 
Le  Conte,  163,  181 
Leibnitz,  400-401 
Lewes,  103,  249-250 
Lewis,  255 
Lochman,  181 
Locke,  ii,  205-208 
Lodge,    Sir   Oliver,    181,    224,    299, 

353-354,  395-396 
Longfellow,  242 
Luther,  18,  21 
Lyell,  57 
Lyte,  49 
McCosh,  401-404 
McHatton-Ripley,  287-288 
McKavett,  Captain,  307-308 
Mackintosh,  209 
Mallock,  119-120,  181 


SUBJECTS   AND    AUTHORITIES 


409 


Authorities  cited — continued 

Manetohcoa,  271 

Marmery,  262,  290 

Marryat,  Florence,  128 

Masson,  135,  161-162 

Matthew  (Gospel),  101-102 

Maya  Codices,  195 

Melancthon,  21 

Mendel,  226 

Merwin,  141-143 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  210-211,  397 

"  Modern  Mexico,"  302 

Moebius,  183 

Mohammed,  285 

Momerie,  85,  181 

Montgomery,  148 

Montucci  (Father),  41 

Moody,  29 

Mooney,  272 

Morgan  (John  King),  256,  318-320 

Morris,  330-333 

Murdock,  216 

Myers,  181,  223-224,  297 

Miiller,  5,  188-190 

Newbold,  295-296 

Newman  (Cardinal),  50,  145 

New  Testament,  29,  63 

Newton  (Sir  Isaac),  47,  69,  147 

Nevius,  68,  181,  269 

Nus,  173 

Nussbaum,  181 

Orton,  229 

Parry,  267 

Paul  (Saint),  100,  285 

Pfeffer.  181 

Piddington,  181 

Pilate,  Pontius,  399-404 

Piper  (Mrs),  295-299 

Pliny  (The  Younger),  101 

Prendergast,  Colonel,  309-310 

Pritts,  270 

Poe.  49 

Podmore,  181,  310-315 

P.  (Mr),  316-320,  321-324,  325-326 

Quackenbos,  181 

Rayleigh,  Lord,  181 

Recejac,  181 

Religious  Tract  Society,  26-27,  2& 

Ribot,  181 

Richet,  17,  181 

Ridgway's  Magazine,  342 

Roberts,  22-23 

Romanes,  17,  34,  43,  47,  51,  52,  53, 
84,  91,  103,  104,  119,  169,  172, 
182-186,  203,  227-229,  240,  252 

Roosevelt,  President,  270 

Salisbury,  Lord,  112 

Sandeman,    181,   221 

Sanders,  Rev.  Dr,  107 

Sargent,  57 

Schiller,  181 

Schofield,  128,  181,  339 

Schreiner,  Olive,  242 

Shaler,  58,  121-123,  181,  222-223 


Authorities  cited — continued 
Sherman,  285-287 
Shuler,  305-306 
Sidgwick,  181 
Simon,  St,  209 
Simpson,  250-251 
Smedes,  287 
Smith,  Colonel,  270 
Society  for  Psychical  Research,  234- 

235.  296-297,  298-299,  358-375 
Spencer,  4,  12,  76,  168,  176,  213-215, 

355 

Stainton-Moses,  285 
Stallo,  181 

Stanhope,  Earl  of,  252 
Stein,  181 

Steefa,  John,  372-374 
Stephen  the  Sabaite,  187 
Stephens,  John  L.,  301 
Stewart,  181 
Stewart  and  Tait,  103,  107-108,  109, 

116,  117,  120 
Stock,  St  John,  115 
Strasburger,  181 
Sully,  181 

"  Supernatural  in  Nature,"  56 
Swedenborg,  144 
Swift,  73 
Tacitus,  101 
Tait,  181 

Tcheng-Ki-Tong,  275 
Tennyson,  Lord,  77,  145,  215,  403 
Teniss,  William,  310-315 
Tertullian,  29 
Tesla,  225,  354 
Thomas,  195 

Thompson,  Dr  G.,  149-150 
Thompson,  J.  T.,  181 
Thomson,  Prof.  W.  H.,  94-96,  104, 

181,  225 

Trollope,  253,  254,  344'347 
Tylor,  57,  81 

Tyndall,  18,  73,  135,  212,  252 
United  States  Supreme  Court,  142- 

143 

United  States  Circuit  courts,  142 
Van  Norden,   181 
Verrall,  181,  298 
Verworm,  183 
Vignoli,  181 
Virchow,  181 
Von     Hartmann      (see     Hartman, 

Von) 

Waldstein,  149 

Wallace,  A.  R.,  76,  89-90,  127,  181 
Ward,  Dr,  150,  181 
Warschauer,  134,  181 
Webster,  Noah,  13,  216 
Weismann,  181,  220,  221 
Westcott,  22 
Whitman,    399-400 
Wilkinson,  250,  397 
Wolseley,  Lord,  288-289 
Wordsworth,  161,  220 


4io 


GENERAL   INDEX   OF 


Authorities  cited — continued 
Wundt,  148,  181 
Ximenes,  Cardinal,  23 
Zollner,  366 
Zopf,  181 
Zwingli,  21 

BACON,   Lord,   The   eidolon  of    form, 

152-155 

—  Familiarity   with    a    name    makes 

it  an  explanation,  152-153 
Balbiani,    On    psychology    of    micro- 
organisms, 183 

Barker,      Professor,     On      the     sub- 
consciousness,  150 

Barrett,    Professor    W.    F.    (F.R.S.), 
On  telepathy,  224 

—  On    the   spiritual    ear,    and    open 

vision,  224 

—  On  the  larger  life,  224 

—  On  the  solidarity  of  mind,  225 

—  On    the    divining    rod    (dowsing), 

277-283 

—  Methods  described  ;  list  of  dowsers, 

278-281 

Barnett,     Canon,     On     loss    of     the 
consciousness  of  God,  39 

—  Morality   dependent    on    conscious- 

ness of  God,  39 

Bateson,  W.  (F.R.S.),   "  Problems  of 
Heredity,"  225-226 

—  No  glimmering  as  to  what  consti- 

tutes the  process  of  transmission 
of  parental  likeness,  225 

—  We  do  not  know  whether  material 

or  not,  225-226 

Bayley,    Professor    W.    D.    (S.P.R.), 
Experiment  with  Mrs  Piper,  295 

—  Interjection    by     deceased     sister, 

excluding  telepathy,  295 

—  Experience    in    medium's  cabinet, 

two  forms  present,  368 

—  Experience     in    a     large     medical 

society,  339-342 

Berkeley,  His  system  contrasted  with 
that  of  Locke,  209 

—  How  Hume  used  both,  209 

—  Huxley  on  Berkeley's  system,  212 
Bible,      False     interpretations     from 

isolated  texts,  9 

—  Same  is  true  of  all  Bibles,  9 

—  Growth  of  dogma  as  a  consequence, 

9 

—  Consists  of  a  residuum  from  many 

other  documents,  22 

—  Those  not  now  canonical  thrown  out 

by  Church  councils,  22 

—  Dr  Lardner  ;  prior  to  556  there  was 

no  canon,  23 

—  "  Christian  people  were  at  liberty 

to  judge  for  themselves,"  23 

—  Canon  Farrar's  list  of  mistransla- 

tions in  New  Testament,  23 

—  Bible  on  enchantments,  magicians, 


Bible — continued 

familiar  spirits,   diviners,  divina- 
tion, etc.,  etc.,  25 

—  Higher  criticism  merely  deals  with 

the   stucco    and    drapery   of    the 
Bible  ;  its  fabric  stands,  55 

—  The    first    Creation  -  narrative    in 

Genesis,  105 

—  So  -  called    "  spontaneous    genera- 

tion "   considered,    105-106 

—  Miracles    narrated    in    the    Bible, 

92-109 

—  Professor  De  Morgan  on  dogmatic 

theology  and  science,  180 

—  Crystal  vision  in  the  Bible,  270 
Bingham,  Rev.  Dr,  Italian  girl :   "  Do 

you    Protestants    believe    in   any 
supernatural  world  at  all  ?  "  54 
Binet,  Alfred,  "  Psychic  life  of  micro- 
organisms," 182-183 

—  Refers,  as  authorities,  to  Gruber,  Ver- 

worm,  Moebius,  Balbiani,  etc.,  183 
Biology,  Professor  Wm.  H.  Thomson 
on   inference    as    a   prime   factor 
in  biology,  94 

—  Summary  of   the  final  results  and 

conclusions  of  Romanes,  in 
biology,  227-229  . 
Birthmarks,  Transmitted  correct  in 
place  and  form  to  unborn  children 
from  prenatal  shock  to  the  mother, 
229-230 

—  Reference     to     Professor     O.    W. 

Holmes,  230 

—  Holmes     cites    mental    impression 

(see  Elsie  Venner) 

Booth,  Lady  Gore,  Apparitional  case, 
from  herself  and  family,  348-349 

Bosco  (The  Magician),  Utterly  scouted 
the  idea  of  the  possibility  of 

":'-'i\  Home's  phenomena  being  pro- 
duced by  any  of  the  resources  of 
his  art,  253 

Bowen,  Professor  Francis,  On  the 
unconscious  department  of  the 
mind  (the  subconsciousness),  146 

—  On  the    two  Criteria  of  Truth,  of 

Leibnitz,  400 

Bradley,  Bishop,  On  the  spreading 
disregard  of  Christ's  authority, 
to-day,  28 

—  Tertullian  on  the  same,  contrasted 

with     above,     200     years     after 
Christ,  29 

—  Irenaeus  on  the  same,  29 

Brine,  Vice-Admiral,  On  crystal  vision 
among  the  Ancient  Mayas,  of 
Yucatan,  273 

Brinton,  Dr  Daniel  G.,  On  religion 
and  superstition,  56 

—  No    tribe   devoid  of    religion ;    no 

animal    manifests    any    sense    of 
religion,  56 

—  All  religions  depend  on  revelation,  56 


SUBJECTS   AND    AUTHORITIES 


411 


Brinton,  Dr  Daniel  G.— continued 

—  On     crystal      vision      in     Ancient 

Yucatan,  273 

Broca,  Paul,  Earliest  human  remains 
show  talismans,  57 

Browning,  Mrs  E.  B.,  On  God's  great- 
ness and  our  incompleteness,  216 

—  On  His  rest,  and  our  restlessness,  216 
Buchner,  On  spirit,  135 

Burton,  Captain,  Used  crystal  and 
black  mirror  in  the  East,  252 

CALVIN,  John,  Calvinistic  errors,  24 
Cano,     Dr    Bernardo,     On    universal 

practice     of     crystal     vision    in 

Yucatan,  to-day,  273 

—  Not  confined  to  the  natives,  273 
Canons  of  the  Church  of  England,  On 

possession,  obsession  and  casting 
out  of  devils,  5 

Carpenter,  Dr  Wm.  B.,  Alleged  spiritual 
phenomena  quite  genuine  and  fair 
subjects  for  scientific  study,  252 

—  His    remarkable    paper    on    "  im- 

mediate insight "  which  will 
supersede  the  laborious  operations 
of  the  intellect,  and  reveal  truths 
and  glories  of  the  Unseen,  398 

Carpenter,  Professor  J.  Estlin,  On  the 
universality  of  religion,  82-83 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  On  miracles  ;  "  What 
are  the  laws  of  Nature  ?  "  265 

—  Who  has  been  present  at  the  Creation 

and  learned  the  laws  of  Nature  ? 
265 

—  "  Alas,  not  in  anywise  I     They  have 

been  nowhere  but  where  we  also 
are,"  266 

—  "  No  lie  can  endure  for  ever,"  401 
Causality,  Romanes  on  "  causality,"  43 

—  Romanes  on  ;    only  because  we  are 

so  familiar  with  its  appearance  do 
we  fail  to  recognise  its  only 
possible  origin  and  progress,  43 

—  Sir  John  Herschel  on  "causality,"  44 

—  Only  interpretable  by  voli tion,  44 
• —  Lamarck  on  "  causah'ty,"  46 

—  Sir  Isaac  Newton  on  "  causality,"  47 
i —  Cicero  (Nature   of    the   Gods),  On 

"  causality,"  48 

—  "  Physical     causation     cannot     be 

made  to  supply  its  own  explana- 
tion "  (Romanes),  84 

—  Romanes,  on  volition  as  the  only 

known  cause,  228 

—  Sir  John  Herschel    on  volition    as 

only  known  cause,  44-46 

—  Lamarck  on  "  Will,"  divine  free  will, 

as  only  known  cause,  47 

—  Sir  Isaac  Newton  on  Divine  Will  as 

the  only  cause,  47 

Centrosomes,  The  psychical  com- 
manders in  the  psychology  of 
micro-organisms,  218 


Charcot,  Professor,  Experiments  in 
clairvoyance  under  hypnosis,  284 

Chamberlain,  Dr  E.  R.,  Case  of  pre- 
vision by  Captain  McKavett  of 
the  latter's  own  death,  307- 

3.09 

Chopin,  Frederick,  The  inspiration  of 
his  "  Marche  Funebre,"  49 

—  Comparison  of  Chopin  with  Edgar 

Allan  Poe,  49 

Christ,  Jesus,  Max  Muller  on  going 
back  to  His  words  and  life,  5 

—  Romanes  on  fallacies  of  orthodoxy, 

and      recent      simplification      of 
doctrine,  6 

—  God's  character  revealed  in  Christ's 

life  and  words,  7 

—  His  promises  of  spiritualistic  powers, 

25 

—  Not  restricted  to  those  of  his  own 

church  or  faith,  25 

—  His  commission,  26 

—  Statement     of     Rev.     Dwight    L. 

Moody,    as    to    Christ's    unpopu- 
larity to-day,  28 

—  The  virgin  conception,  96 

—  Examples     of    virgin    conceptions 

from  established  science,  96 

—  Parthenogenesis  ;  examples,  96 

—  His  execution  attested  by  Tacitus, 

101 

—  His  worship  "  as  God."  attested  by 

Pliny  the  Younger,  101 

(Both    the    above   were    heathen 

writers) 

—  Fallacies     of     a     clerical    critic's 

arguments,  101 

—  His  reasons  for  attributing  greatness 

to  Christ,  would  have  left  Him  no 
greatness,  102 

—  On  the  kingdom  of  heaven  withiu 

ourselves,  193 

—  The     Universe     God's     workshop, 

creation  by  design  going  on  all 
the  time,  193 

—  "  Suffer  little  children,"  201 
Christianity,  Founded  on  spiritualism 

of  the  modern  types,  18 

—  Its    continued    spiritualism    never 

denied  until  the  Protestant  Refor- 
mation, 1 8 

—  For  fifteen  centuries  it  was  universal, 

18 

—  List  of  phenomena  of  modern  type 

of  spiritualism  narrated  in  the  New 
Testament,  19 

—  The  old  Church  recognised  spiritual- 

ism   in    revelations,    among    the 
common  people,  19 

—  Its  old    triumphant  career  lost  in 

eddies,  39 

—  Canon  Barnett  on  the  cessation  of 

the    consciousness   of   God.     The 
words  of  Jesus,  39 


412 


GENERAL   INDEX   OF 


Christianity — continued 

—  Its    new    awakening    and   present 

broadening,  39 

—  Abandonment  of    erroneous   theo- 

logical systems,  39-40 

—  Attack  and  triumph  over  heathen- 

ism, 40 

—  Sacrifice  of  pagan  art  (all  art  was 

pagan),  40 

—  Revival  as  Christian  art,  centuries 

later,  40 

—  Many  of   its  beliefs  and  practices 

antedate  Christ,  41 

—  Biblical  Christianity  a  dead  record 

without  a  spiritualism  ever  present 
and  acting,  41 

—  "  Higher  Criticism  "  merely  applic- 

able to  historical  and  incidental 
errors,  55 

—  Necessity  for  Protestant  revolt  not 

denied ;  the  Reformation  struck 
back  at  abuses  of  and  also  re- 
formed the  older  Church,  168 

—  Theological  fallacies  forced  upon  the 

Reformation  by  the  necessity  of 
repudiating  the  spiritual  authority 
of  the  old  Church,  in  order  to  have 
a  status  for  the  new,  168-169 

—  Result  was  to  leave  an  anonymous 

Bible  and  a  despiritualised 
Church,  169 

—  The    exclusion    of    present    divine 

activity  manifested  by  spiritual 
powers  openly  acting,  for  which 
was  substituted  an  impersonal 
Nature  as  the  operator,  169 

—  Materialistic     science      seized     its 

opportunity,  and  an  alliance  was 
formed,  169 

—  A  short  step  from  a  dead  Bible  to  a 

dead  God,  38 

—  Its    conquering    power    during    its 

earlier  ages  the  spiritualistic, 
246 

Church,  Mrs  Ross  (Florence  Marry  at), 
128 

—  On  credulity  which  "  accepts  any- 

thing," among  spiritualists,  128 

—  Reference  to  her  book,  "  There  is  no 

Death,"  65 

—  Her  experiments  with  Sir  William 

Crookes,  in  the  Katie  King  pheno- 
mena, 65-66 

—  Her  statements   regarding  sceptics, 

66 
Churchill,  Winston,  On  the  flash  from 

crossing    wires    of    consciousness 

(see  Hume),  209 
Cicero,  M.  T.,  On  causation ;  immediate, 

of  the  gods  directing  and  governing 

the  whole  world  ;    otherwise,  "  of 

what  avail  is  piety,  sanctity,  or 

religion  ?  "  48 
Clairvoyance,  Case  of  "  Eph's  bullet " ; 


Clairvoyance — continued 

was  it  telepathy  from  the  living  or 
the  dead  ?  274 

—  Experiment  down  a  salt-well,  286 

—  Experiments  in  projected  conscious- 

ness, 285-287 

—  Algerian  case  described,  285 

—  Alderman's  cases,  under  hypnosis, 

285-286 

Comte,     Auguste,     His     "  religion    of 
humanity,"  83 

—  A  composite  god  compared  with  a 

composite  photograph,  84 

—  Huxley  would  as  soon  worship    a 

wilderness  of  apes,  103 

—  Comte 's  teachings,  205 

—  His  history  and  system,  209-210 

—  His  fallacies,  210 

Conn,    Professor    H.    W.,    On   proto- 
plasm, 52 

—  Not    a    chemical    product,    but    a 

machine,  52 

—  Machines  always  constructed  under 

the  guidance  of  intelligence,  to 
construct  and  adapt  the  parts  to 
each  other  for  a  definite  purpose, 

53 

—  On  centrosomes  in  the  psychology 

of  micro-organisms,  218 

—  His  "  Story  of  the  Living  Machine," 

52  (see  also  his  "  Germ  Life,"  and 
"  Evolution  ") 

—  All     living     protoplasm    is    living 

machinery,  225 

—  The  problem  of  explaining  life  is  the 

problem  of  explaining  a  machine, 
225 

—  We  are  apparently  as  far  from  a  real 

explanation  of  life  as  before  the 
discovery  of  protoplasm,  225 

—  We  know  of  no  such  simple  proto- 

plasm capable  of  living  activities 
apart  from  machinery,  225 
Conscience,   Shakespeare  says,   "  Con- 
science makes  cowards  of  us  all," 
402 

—  The    inner    voice     from    the    sub- 

consciousness,  402 

—  Unites  us  with  all  that  is  higher  ;  the 

surface  consciousness  only  knows 
it  as  a  superstition,  402 
Consciousness,  The  difficulty  is  not 
that  it  should  survive  after  bodily 
death,  but  that  it  should  survive 
through  bodily  life,  or  exist  at 
all,  72 

—  Tyndall    on    chasm    between    con- 

sciousness and  physics  of  the 
brain,  135 

—  Darwin  on  universe  and  conscious- 

ness inconceivable  without  ex- 
istence of  God,  85 

—  Professor    Momerie    on     Darwin's 

letter,  85 


SUBJECTS   AND   AUTHORITIES 


413 


Consciousness — continued 

—  Not  a  difficult  problem  if  properly 

approached,  161 

—  Consciousness  must  be  used  to  even 

deny  the  existence  of  conscious- 
ness, 161 

Conversion,  The  phenomena  of  re- 
ligious conversion,  383-387 

—  Comes   through    the  subconscious- 

ness,  383 

—  Professor  James  on  the  psychology 

of  conversion,  383 

• —  Subconscious  processes  continue 
during  trance  and  coma,  385 

Cook,  Florence,  the  medium  through 
whom  the  Katie  King  phenomena 
were  produced  before  Sir  William 
Crookes,  257-260 

Councils,  The  great  Christian  councils 
which  established  the  Church  and 
Scripture  canon,  22 

Credulity,  Professor  Wm.  H.  Thomson 
on  incredulity ;  based  only  on 
personal  experience  ;  will  believe 
nothing  else  ;  cannot  be  reasoned 
with ;  relies  on  most  fallacious 
testimony  ;  a  mental  weakness  ; 
those  incredulous  about  some 
things  exhibit  in  others  the  most 
facile  credulity,  104 

—  Belief  is  something  to  be  earned  ; 

Romanes  says  that  unbelief  is 
usually  due  to  indolence,  often  to 
prejudice,  and  is  never  a  thing  to 
be  proud  of,  252 

—  Jevons  on  laws  of  thought ;    must 

encounter  inexplicable  and  ap- 
parently contradictory  results,  124 

—  Mrs   Ross  Church  on  credulity  of 

many  of  those  most  devoted  to 
spiritualism,  and  who  are  ready 
to  accept  everything  without 
investigation,  128 

—  Romanes  on  credulity,  228 

—  No  real  difference  between  credulity 

and  incredulity ;  both  equally 
credulous,  128 

Criteria  of  truth,  Pilate's  question, 
"  What  is  Truth  ?  "  399 

—  If  we  are  of  God,  there  is  an  answer  ; 

if  not,  then  the  answer  does  not 
matter,  399 

—  Professor  Bowen  on  the  two  criteria 

of  truth  of  Leibnitz,  400-401 

—  The    three    criteria    of     truth     of 

President  McCosh,  401-404 

—  Author's  illustrations  of  the  latter, 

401-404 

—  Professor  Bowen's  illustrations  of 

the  criteria  of  Leibnitz,  400-401 
Crockett,    S.     R.,    Apostrophe    to    a 

donkey,    in    his    "  Adventurer   in 

Spain,"  187-188 
— Comparison  with  the  "  two-legged  "  ; 


Crockett,  S.  R. — continued 

"  Worlds  and  worlds  of  thistles 
without  end  !  Amen  !  "  188 

Crockett,  Davy,  "  Be  sure  you  are 
right,  then  go  ahead,"  172 

Crooke,  Dr  R.  H.,  Translation  of 
Hecker's  "  Child  Pilgrimages,"  386 

Crookes,  Sir  William,  Reports  seeing  a 
detached  hand  come  down  upon 
a  table  before  him,  in  full  daylight, 
and  strike  on  the  table  with  a  solid 
body,  producing  loud  sounds, 
105 

—  His  work  while  known  as  Professor 

Crookes,  235 

—  Rejected  by  Council  of  the  Royal 

Society,  235 

—  His    experiments    continued,    and 

his  reports  accepted  by  The 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Science, 
236 

—  His  further  work  and  reports,  236- 

23? 

—  Made  Sir  William  by  the   Queen, 

236-237 

—  Elected    President  by   the  British 

Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science,  1898,  237-238 

—  President,  during  the  same  year,  of 

the  Society  for  Psychical  Research, 
238 

—  List  of  phenomena  established  by 

his  experiments,  up  to  1874, 
236-237 

—  Qualifications  for  his  work,  235-236 

—  Extract      from      his      Presidential 

address  before  the  British  Associa- 
tion, 237-238 

—  "  Nothing  to  retract ;    might    add 

much  thereto,"  237 

—  "In    life   I    see   the    promise   and 

potency  of  all  forms  of  matter," 
238 

—  His  burning  words,  18 

—  On  Science,  lifting  veil  after  veil, 

and  how  her  face  grows  more 
august,  beautiful  and  wonderful, 

239 

Cross-correspondences,  Methods  sug- 
gested from  the  "  other  side,"  to 
ensure  the  elimination  of  telepathy 
from  the  living,  296-299 

—  Principal    Graham   on  cross-corre- 

spondences, 296-299 

—  Three  previsional  dreams  of  three 

persons,  which  were  without  sig- 
nificance separately,  but  which, 
when  combined,  made  a  veridical 
cross-correspondence ;  but  only 
capable  of  being  combined  after 
the  foretold  death  ;  the  purpose 
evidently  having  been  to  establish 
the  prevision  without  creating 
alarm,  337-338 


414 


GENERAL   INDEX   OF 


Crossland,  Newton,  Spiritualism  as 
certain  as  the  multiplication- 
table,  250 

Crystal  Vision,  Captain  Burton  used 
a  crystal  and  black  mirror  in  the 
East,  252 

—  Experiments  of  J.  Hawkins  Simpson, 
250 

—  Experiments  of  A.  Goodrich-Freer, 

250-252 

—  Narrative  of  Colonel  James  Smith, 

concerning  a  crystal  vision  among 
the  Red  Indians,  270 

—  Bible  narrative  ;    Joseph's  divining 

cup  ;  used  also  for  drinking,  270 

—  Use  of  shoulder-blade  of  wild-cat  as 

crystal,  271-272 

—  Among    the    Cherokee    Indians    of 

North  Carolina,  272 

—  Among  the  ancient  Aztecs,  273 

—  Among     the     ancient     Mayas    of 

Yucatan,  273 

—  Dr  Cano  on  present  use  in  Yucatan, 

273 

—  Crystal  vision  among  the  Eskimo, 

268 

—  Among  the  natives  of  Chile ;    used 

by  the  Incas  of  Peru  ;   among  the 
Apaches,  273 

Crystal  vision  and  planchette  writing 
in  China,  275 

DABNEY,  Thomas  S.  G.,  Narrative  of 
clairvoyance  in  his  family,  of 
dying  boy,  287 

Darwin,  Charles,  On  existence  of  God, 

85 

—  On  psychology  of  plants,  150-151 

• —  Plants  perceive,  and  then  act,  150- 

131 

—  Consult    together    before    acting ; 

division  of  labour,  151 

—  On  the  subconsciousness,  151 

—  On  environment,  219 

• —  His  proposed  pangenesis,  223 
Davey,    Dr    J.    G.,    His   spiritualistic 

investigations  removed  doubt,  250 
Davies,  Rev.  Dr,    On  spiritualism  in 

the  Church,  5 

—  Spiritualists    are  broadest   church- 

men he  finds  anywhere,  57-58 
De  Morgan,  Professor  Augustus,  On 
the  overbearing  minister  of 
Nature ;  wears  a  priest's  cast-off 
garb,  dyed  to  escape  detection,  125 

—  Sketch  of  his  qualifications,  231,  290 

—  His  conclusions  from  his  own  ex- 

periments, 231-232 

—  Cannot  be  explained  by  imposture, 

coincidence  or  mistake,  231 

—  Some  combination  of  will,  intellect 

and  physical  power,  231 

—  Physical     explanation     easy,    but 

miserably  insufficient,  231-232 


De  Morgan,  Professor — continued 

—  Spiritual  hypothesis  sufficient,  232 

—  But  ponderously  difficult  (1863),  232 

—  Spiritualists  on  track  which  has  led 

to  all  advancement  in  physical 
science,  232 

—  Their  opponents  the  representatives 

of  those  who  have  striven  against 
progress,  232 

—  The  spiritualists  appeal  to  evidence, 

232 

—  All  nations  have  assumed  that  there 

is  a  world  of  spirits,  232 

—  Uniform  vein  of  description  among 

rapping  spirits,  232 

—  His  qualifications  epitomised,  290 

—  His  narrative  of  experiment  of  his 

own  in  spirit-rapping,  291-292 

—  Anecdote    of    a    sceptical   friend's 

experience,  292 

De  Morgan,  Mrs  (wife  of  Professor 
De  Morgan),  Her  book,  "  From 
Matter  to  Spirit,"  388 

—  Her  citations  of  spiritual  phenomena 

in  the  Bible,  388-393 

—  Anecdote  of    children  singing  "  of 

blood,  wrath  and  damnation,  with 
the  utmost  good  humour,"  394 

—  Her  momentous  question,  394-395 
Dennett,  Captain  J.  F.  (R.N.),  Narra- 
tive of  Parry's  Second  Voyage  to 
the  Arctic,  195 

—  Narrative  of  early  missionaries  to 

the  Eskimo,  195-196 

—  Their  primitive  belief  in  God,  196 
Descartes,  Innate  principles,  206 
Dialectical  Society  of  London. 

—  Huxley's  reply,  74 

—  Answer  by  eminent  psychologist,  73 

—  Investigation  and  report  on  pheno- 

mena, 233 

—  Extracts  from  letters  to,  249-253 
Dowsing  (see  Divining  Rod) 
Divining  Rod,  The   methods  used   by 

so-called  water-finders,  277 

—  Largely  in  use  in  various  countries, 

277 

—  Professor  Barrett  s   exhaustive  re- 

ports on  the  divining  rod,  in 
Proceedings  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research,  277 

—  Cases   cited   by  Professor  Barrett, 

278-283 

—  Andrew  Lang  on  Professor  Barrett's 

reports ;  not  more  than  twelve 
failures  out  of  150  cases,  283 

—  A.  Goodrich-Freer  on  the  divining 

rod,  283 

—  Case  of  Jacques  Aymar  (pursuit  of 

murderer),  283 

—  Some     possible     explanations     of 

"  dowsing,"  284-285 
Dreams  (see  veridical  dreams),  Under 
"  Cross-correspondences,"337 


SUBJECTS    AND    AUTHORITIES 


415 


Dudley,  Professor  Pemberton,  Ap- 
paritional  case,  340-341 

Du  Prel,  On  transcendentalism  and 
Somnambulism,  36 

ELECTRICITY,  Modern  views  of  elec- 
tricity and  matter,  355-356 

—  The  phenomena  produced  by  strain 

in  the  ether,  353 

—  Franklin  the  forerunner  in  its  utilisa- 

tion, 354-355 

—  Tesla   on    electrical    energy     from 

space,  354 

Ellinwood,  Rev.  Dr,  "  Who  shall  say 
then  that  a  disembodied  spirit 
may  not  do  the  same  ?  "  58 

Embryology,  A  leading  factor  in  the 
New  Psychology,  together  with 
anthropology,  modern  biology, 
psychology  of  micro-organisms, 
comparative  religions,  folklore, 
and  kindred  sciences,  9 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  On  Brahma ;  on 
"  river  of  command,"  161,  289 

Emotions,  Emotions  the  higher, 
intellect  the  lower  (Spencer),  4 

Empiricism  contrasted  with  trans- 
cendentalism, 216 

Environment,  Fallacy  regarding  its 
power ;  it  has  no  power ;  the 
power  is  in  the  one  who  overcomes 
it,  219 

—  Misunderstood  by  Haeckel ;    "  the 

man  "  is  everything,  219 
Erasmus,  Fourth  edition  of  his  Greek 

Testament,  not  earlier  than  1514, 

the  basis  of  all  subsequent  texts  ; 

the  materials  he  used,  23 
Eskimo,  Their  religious  beliefs,  before 

the  advent  of  the  missionaries,  198 

—  Narratives  of  apparitions,  angekoks, 

and  crystal  vision  among  them,  267 
Ether,    The    luminiferous    ether    con- 
sidered, 293-294 

• —  Wireless  telegraphy  a  phenomenon 
of  the  ether,  293 

—  Contrasted  with   telepathy,  of  the 

consciousness,  294 

—  Free  and  bound  ether,  328 

—  Lord  Kelvin  on  the  ether,  353 

—  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  on  the  ether,  353 

—  Sir  John  Herschel  on  the  ether,  352 

—  Nikola  Tesla  on  the  ether,  354 

—  Sir  Wm.  Crookes  on   the  vision  of 

nature,  355 

—  Fresnel  on  the  ether,  353 

—  Consideration    of    the    ether   as   a 

factor     in     the     phenomena    of 
materialisations,  350-356 
Ethics,  Without  a  religious  basis  ethics 
impossible,  84 

—  One  of   the  "  moral  satisfactions  " 

which,     Romanes     says,     always 
land  us  in  misery,  84 


Ethics — continued 

—  Ethics  deal  with  questions  of  duty, 

not  of  choice ;  a  consequence, 
not  a  cause,  84 

—  It  is  to  learn  what  one  ought  to  do, 

and  there  is  no  learning  without  a 
better  informed  teacher,  84 
Ethnology,  United  States   Bureau  of, 
Psychical    practices    among    the 
Indians,  292 

—  Crystal      vision      of      Confederate 

soldiers,  273 

Eve,  Dr,  His  "  Collection  of  Remark- 
able Cases  in  Surgery,"  96 

—  Many    cases     described     of     foetal 

growth  and  development  without 
male  parentage  ;  examples  cited 
at  length,  96-100 

Evolution,  Masson  on  Zero  or  Deity, 
162 

—  Granted  a  Deity,  John  Stuart  Mill 

concedes  revelation,  162 

—  The  parting  of    the  ways  ;    either 

God  is  all,  or  Zero  is  all,  162-163 

—  By  its  definition  Zero  is   nothing, 

and,  however  we  may  multiply  it, 
it  remains  nothing,  162 

—  Haeckel's    errors    regarding  evolu- 

tion, 217-227 

—  Professor  Orton  on  evolution  of  the 

imago  from  formless  matter, 
229 

—  The  only  scientific  basis  of  evolution 

is  volition,  240 

—  Romanes,     Sir      John     Herschel, 

Lamarck,  on,  241 

—  Divine  volition,   acting  in    a   vast 

sphere  as  our  volition  does  in  a 
small  one,  solves  the  problem  of 
evolution  ;  volition  cannot  be  con- 
ceded in  the  one  case  and  denied  in 
the  other,  because  the  processes  are 
identical,  only  differing  in  magni- 
tude ;  as  Sir  Isaac  Newton  merely 
expanded  the  conception  of 
gravitation  from  the  fall  of  an 
apple  to  the  cosmical  bodies  of 
space,  241 

FAITH,  Romanes  on  difference  between 

faith  and  opinion,  91 
— Huxley's  confusion  of  these  terms,  91 
Farrar,  Canon,  His  "Texts  Explained," 

23 

—  Citation   of  many  errors,  some  of 

which  are  vital,  in  present  trans- 
lations of  the  New  Testament, 

23.  24 
Fascination,  Psychical  in  character,  287 

—  Allied    to   the    inspiring  power  of 

great  leaders,  288-289 

—  Case    of    fascination    of     frog    by 

rattlesnake,  287-288 
Flammarion,  On  mistakes  of  science, 


GENERAL   INDEX   OF 


Flanimarion — continued 

due  to  failure  to  pursue  scientific 
methods,  173 

—  Relates  incident  in  French  Academy 

of  Sciences,  when  the  phonograph 
was  first  exhibited  there,  175 

Foster,  Professor  Michael,  On  difference 
between  a  living  and  a  dead  human 
body  ;  to  a  large  extent  one  of 
inference  only,  94 

Folklore,  This  new  science  presents  old 
phenomena  in  a  new  aspect,  302 

—  Importance    of    consensus    among 

widely  separated  peoples,  302 

—  Coincidence     cannot    account    for 

such,  302 

Franklin,  Dr  Benjamin,  His  "  Kite- 
flying," 76 

—  His  noble  reply,  "  Of  what  use  is  a 

baby  ? "   76 

—  What      "  the      baby "      now     ac- 

complishes, 76 

—  His  place    in  the  phenomena  and 

interpretation  of  electricity,  354 

—  Electrical  energy    from  the  ether, 

354-355 
Franklin,    Sir    John,    On    revival    of 

frozen  fish  in  the  Arctic,  3 1 
French   Royal  Academy   of   Sciences, 

investigation  and  report  of  1831, 

on    so-called   animal  magnetism, 

233 
Fresnel,  On  the  luminiferous  ether,  353 

GLADDEN,  Rev.  Washington  (D.D., 
LL.D.),  "  The  Outlook  for 
Christianity,"  6 

—  On  liberalising    movement    in  the 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  7 

—  On  vast  changes  from  the  old  to  the 

new  theology,  7 

—  Divine     fatherhood     and     human 

brotherhood,  8 

—  God    was    formerly    a    sovereign ; 

to-day  is  a  Father,  7-8 
Gladstone,     Huxley     on     "  Gladstone 

and  Genesis,"  73,  113 
God,  God's  science  of  Man  versus  Man's 

science  of  God,  3 

—  His  character  revealed  in  the  life 

and  words  of  Jesus,  7 

—  Our  relation  to,  7 

—  No  sovereignty  higher  than  father- 

hood ;  no  law  stronger  than  love,  8 

—  A  celebrated  evangelist :  "  It  is- the 

common  cant  to  say  that  Christ  is 
here,  not  in  the  flesh  but  in  the 
spirit,"  48 

—  He  says  that  Christ  went  away  from 

the  world  of  His  children  ;  no  one 
knows  when  He  will  return,  49 

—  Answer  to  the  evangelist,    "  Abide 

with  me,"  49 

—  Charles  Darwin  on  the  impossibility 


God — continued 

of  conceiving  of  the  universe  with 
our  conscious  selves,  without  the 
existence  of  God,  85 

—  Nothing  spontaneous  except  in  our 

own  mind,  and  in  God's  will,  106 

—  Man's      brotherhood      and     God's 

fatherhood  ;  how  this  faith  rises 
above  human  creeds  and  sectarian 
theology,  164 

—  The  great  Overgod  found  intact  in 

all  religions,  167 

—  Also    with     divine    and     spiritual 

revelation  to  man,  167-168 

—  "  God  is  a  Spirit  "  ;  the  context,  187 

—  Faith       in       God's       immanence ; 

anecdote  of  two  little  girls,  192 

—  The      universe      His      workshop ; 

building,  designing,  with  intelli- 
gence and  volition,  and  creative 
power  and  wisdom  constantly 
going  on,  193 

—  Eskimo    belief    in    God    prior    to 

missionaries,  196-197 

—  Le    Bon's     statement     of     man's 

creation  of  the  gods,  and  then 
worshipping  them,  disproved,  197 

—  The      intellectual     and    emotional 

conception  of  God  preceded  all 
attempts  to  embody  them,  197-198 

—  Mrs  Browning  on  His  completeness, 

and  His  rest,  216 

—  Professor  James'  definition  of  God, 

224 

—  "  We  and  God  have  business  with 

each  other,"  224 

—  Author's  definition  of  God,  242 

—  Lamarck's  definition  of  God,  242 

—  Walt  Whitman  on   the  individual 

as  part  of  the  divine ;  the  same 
of  nations,  399-400 

—  Leibnitz  on  knowledge  of  God,  as 

originator,  sustainer  and  pre- 
server ;  and  of  our  own  soul  as  the 
receiver  of  God's  knowledge,  401 
Goodrich-Freer,  Miss  A.  (S.P.R.), 
On  objectivity  of  things  seen  in 
crystal  vision,  251 

—  On  acquirement  of  the  art  of  crystal 

vision,  273 

—  Example  cited  from  a  little  colony 

of  crystal  gazers,  274 

—  On  the  use  of  the  divining  rod,  283 
Gordon,  Lieutenant-General  John  B., 

Cases  of  prevision  narrated  in  his 
recent   book,    "  Reminiscences  of 
the  Civil  War,"  303-305 
Gould,      Dr,      His      "  Curiosities     of 
Medicine,"  96 

—  Many  cases  of  foetal  growth,  with 

live  foetuses,  often  nearly  fully 
developed,  in  cases  where  male 
parentage  was  impossible,  96 
(see  also  Dr  Eve's  book) 


SUBJECTS   AND   AUTHORITIES 


417 


Graham,  Professor,  On  the  alleged 
atheism  of  science,  134 

—  His  "  Creed  of  Science  "  ;  a  state  of 

chaos  never  existed,  134 
Graham,  Principal  John  W.,  On  Cross- 
correspondences,  S.P.R.,  296-299 
Gruber,     On     psychology     of    micro- 
organisms, 183 

HAMILTON,  Sir  William,  On  "  in- 
explicability,"  on  any  empirical 
basis,  210 

Hammond,  Dr  William  A.,  His  "  Sleep 
and  its  Derangements,"  n 

—  Likens   mind    to    bile,    to    candle- 

light, to  a  coal-fire,  12 

—  Says  that  when  brain  is  quiescent 

there  is  no  mind,  12 

—  He  wrote  in  1869,  IJ 

—  His   concessions,  in  cases  of  som- 

nambulism, that  his  subjects  saw 
without  eyes,  and  while  the 
ordinary  senses  were  not  awake 
to  ordinary  excitations,  107 

Harris,  Joel  Chandler,  Everything 
beautiful  and  precious  in  this 
world  has  a  mystery  attached  to 
it,  402 

Harrison,  Frederic,  His  belief  in 
Comte's  philosophy,  209 

Hartmann,  Edouard  Von  (see  also 
Von  Hartmann) 

—  On      phenomena      following      the 

severance  of  an  annelid,  95 

—  On      the      subconsciousness      (the 

unconscious),  147 

—  On  memory,  156-157 

—  On  the  action  of  the  unconscious, 

158 

—  On     the     unconscious     (the     sub- 

consciousness),  222 
Hayden,  Mrs,  The  medium  in  whose 

presence      were      produced      the 

phenomena  described  by  Professor 

De  Morgan,  291-292 
Haeckel,  Ernest,  His  "  Riddle  of  the 

Universe,"  12 

—  Describes  the  soul  as  a  matter  of 

the  nervous  system,  12 

—  He  says  it  is  the  sum  total  of  the 

physiological  functions,  12 

—  Conceded  his  incompetency  to  deal 

with  the  problems,  171 

—  Thought    he   was    able,    however, 

to  produce  a  sketch  of  a  general 
plan,  217-218 

—  Recommended  "  the  profound  work 

of  Romanes  "  to  his  readers,  104 

—  Romanes  repudiated  Haeckel  and 

his  teachings,  103-104,  227 

—  Some   of   Haeckel's  misstatements 

and  fallacies,  218-219 

—  His  whole  scheme  of  heredity  now 

discredited,  220 

3D 


Haeckel,  Ernest — continued 

—  His     endorsement     of      Romanes, 

226-227 

—  The  conclusions  of  Romanes  directly 

opposite,  227-229 

Hecker,  Dr  J.  F.  C.,  On  epidemics 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  dancing 
mania,  sweating  sickness,  child 
pilgrimages,  etc.,  386 

Heredity,  Physical  heredity  incom- 
patible with  memory,  158 

—  Otherwise   progenitors  must    have 

been  better  informed  instead  of 
less,  158 

—  Cannot  account  for  inheritance  of 

higher  mind  from  lower,  220 

—  Lowest  forms  of  life  have  little  of 

use  to  us  to  transmit,  220 

—  No  physical  stream  can  rise  higher 

than  its  source,  220 

—  Inventions     could    never     be     so 

transmitted,  220 

—  Discussion  of  heredity,  from  recent 

authorities,  220-230 

—  Citations  from  Bateson,  225-226 

—  Strange  results  from  cross-breeding, 

226 

—  Sandeman       on       heredity ;        no 

differences  in  protoplasms  indicat- 
ing possibilities  of  form,  221 

—  Von      Hartmann      on       heredity, 

222 

—  Kant  on  instinct ;     the  "  Voice  of 

God,"  222 

—  Consideration  of  the  "Vis  Medica- 

trix  Naturae,"  222 

—  Professor     Shaler     on      heredity ; 

changes  in  man  psychical,  not 
physical,  222 

—  Heredity,  says  Shaler,  goes  beyond 

our  field  of  knowledge  or  the 
scientific  imagination,  223 

—  Bateson  on  heredity ;  no  glimmering 

of  an  idea  ;  we  do  not  even  know 
whether  it  is  material  or  not, 
225-226 

—  Professor  Orton  cites  the  fact  that 

the  larva  disappears  into  form- 
less matter  before  the  imago 
commences  to  form,  31,  229; 
I  refer  also  to  Orton 's  "Com- 
parative Zoology,"  page  30 : 
"  There  are  no  parts  set  apart 
for  a  particular  purpose,  but  a 
fragment  is  as  good  as  the  whole 
to  perform  all  the  functions  of  life." 
"  The  animal  series,  therefore, 
begins  with  forms  that  feel  without 
nerves,  move  without  muscles, 
and  digest  without  a  stomach  : 
in  other  words,  life  is  the  cause 
of  organisation,  not  the  result  of 
it.  Animals  do  not  live  because 
they  are  organised,  but  are 


GENERAL   INDEX   OF 


Heredity — continued 

organised  because  they  are  alive  " 
(Note,  not  in  text  of  present  work) 

—  Lamarck  on  the  organising  principle 

as  superior  to  Nature,  and  in- 
dependent of  matter,  229 

—  Birthmarks  transmitted  to  unborn 

children,  from  prenatal  shock  to 
mother,  and  appear  at  birth 
correct  in  form  and  place,  229-230 

—  Example  in  professional  experience 

of  the  Author,  230 

—  Professor  O.  W.  Holmes,  M.D.,  on 

birthmarks  (Professor  Holmes  cites 
the  case  of  King  James  I.  of 
England,  in  which  a  mental  dread 
of  naked  weapons  followed  through 
his  whole  life,  from  maternal  shock, 
from  his  mother  practically  behold- 
ing the  murder  of  Rizzio,  by  such 
weapons) 

Herron,  Professor,  On  the  degeneration 
of  living  faith ;  theology  re- 
sponsible ;  does  God  live  now  ?  38 

Herschel,  Sir  John,  On  causality  ;  only 
interpretable  by  volition,  45 

—  On  memory  as  controlling  the  atoms 

and  molecules  of  space,  158 

—  On   the   phenomena   of   atoms   in 

motion,  175 

—  Their    movements    can    only    be 

explained  by  mind  and  volition, 
175-176.  (He  says,  in  his  paper 
on  Atoms,  "  Thou  hast  said  it. 
The  presence  of  MIND  is  what  solves 
the  whole  difficulty  ") 

—  On     will    without    motive,    power 

without  design,  thought  opposed 
to  reason ;  would  explain  a 
chaos,  but  not  anything  else,  176 

—  On  mind  as  the  key  which  unlocks 

the  vis  viva  of  unstably-balanced 
nature,  223 

—  On  the  ether,  352 

Hockley,  Mr,  On  crystal  vision  ; 
collected  more  than  12,000  answers 
to  questions.  Examples,  251-252 

Hodgson,  Richard  (LL.D.,  S.P.R.), 
Communications,  through  Mrs 
Piper,  after  his  death,  with 
Professor  Bayley  and  others,  295- 
299 

—  Surviving  personality  of  Hudson — 

turns  up  at  one  of  Dr  Hodgson's 
sittings,  327-329 

Holmes,  Professor  O.  W.,  On  the  sub- 
consciousness,  149 

—  On  birthmarks  (see  Heredity),  230 

(Says,  "  there  is  no  end  of  cases  of 

this  kind  "  ;  see  "  Elsie  Venner  ") 
Hough,  a  boy  medium  ;   Experiments 

of  Mr  P.  with,  316-320 
Huggins,  Dr,  His  association  with  Sir 

Wm.  Crookes,  236 


Hume,  David,  His  argument  against 
miracles,  88 

—  Fallacies     of     Hume's    argument, 

89 

—  A.  R.  Wallace  on  Hume's  argument, 

89-90 

—  T.  H.  Huxley  on  the  same,  90 

—  G.   J.  Romanes  on  the  same,   90- 

91 

—  His  teachings,  205 

—  Little    understood    by    those    who 

lean  upon  him,  208 

—  His  philosophy,  209 

—  Morell  ("  Speculative  Philosophy  of 

Europe  "),  on  Hume,  209 
Hunt,   Leigh,   His  poem,    Abou   Ben 

Adhem,  396 
Huxley,  Thomas  H.,  On  materialism ; 

the  idealistic  position  unassailable, 

10-11 

—  He  denies  materialism,  1 1 

—  His  definition  of  science  ;  if  nothing 

but  what  is  exactly  true  be  called 
science,  there  is  very  little  science 
in  the  world,  74 

—  On     Hume's     argument      against 

miracles,  90 

—  On  Comte's  "  God  of  Humanity  "  ; 

a  wilderness  of  apes,  103 

—  On  mathematics  as  a  perfect  science, 

H3 

—  Answer  by  Professor  Jevons,  110- 

iii,  113-115 

—  On  solid  and  sure-enough  science, 

177 

—  On  the  brain  as  a  mechanism  by 

which  the  material  universe 
becomes  conscious  of  itself,  212 

—  The  idealistic  position  unassailable, 

213 

—  Compelled      to      accept      idealism 

instead  of  materialism,  397 

ILLMAN,  Rev.  Thomas  W.,  His  ex- 
periment with  a  trumpet-medium, 
335-336 

Inconsequential  character  of  much  of 
the  phenomena,  372 

—  But  phenomena  of    this  sort  fre- 

quently of  scientific  importance, 

372.  374 

—  Case  of  John  Steefa  (table-tipping 

case),  372-374 

—  Difficult  to  explain  on  any  normal 

or  telepathic  basis,  374 

—  Case  of  young  girl,  who  automatic- 

ally reported  two  large  volumes 

of  formal  sermons,  375 
Ingersoll,  Col.  Robert  G.,  On  passing 

away  of  churches,  119 
Inventions,  Explanation  of  patentable 

inventions,  137-140 

—  They  are  essentially  supernormal, 

141-143 


SUBJECTS    AND   AUTHORITIES 


419 


Inventions  —  continued 

—  Merwin  on    "  Patentability  of    In- 

ventions," 139-142 

—  Court  decisions  on  inventions,  142- 

143 

—  Like  a"  bolt  from  the  blue,"  138,  141 

—  The  psychology  of  inventions,  144- 


Irenaeus,  Sweep  of  Christianity  in  its 
earlier  ages,  29 

—  The  causes  and  the  results,  29 

—  Due     to     faith,    spiritualism     and 

miracles,  29 

JALALU'D  Din,  Persian  poem,  of  700 
years  ago,  on  the  divine  system 
of  evolution,  242 

James,  Professor  William  (S.P.R.), 
On  systematic  theology,  4 

—  The     phenomena     of    spiritualism 

among  the  most  constant  in 
history,  59 

—  On     the     subconsciousness  ;     now 

a  well  -  accredited  psychological 
entity,  223-224 

—  More  life  in  our  soul  than  we  are 

ever  aware  of,  223 

—  Definition  of  the  term,  God,  224 

—  "  We  and  God  have  business  with 

each  other,"  224 

—  On    Myers'     great    discovery    and 

demonstration  of  the  subconscious 
department  of  the  mind,  383 
Janet,  Paul,  Materialism  due  to  an 
inclination  to  explain  everything 
by  unity  ;  materialists  do  not  go 
back  far  enough  for  the  unity,  176 

—  Their  blunders  consequent  on  this 

failure,  177 

Jevons,  Professor  W.  Stanley,  On 
tendency  of  men  of  science  to 
conceal  incompatible  facts,  no, 

112 

—  On    mathematics   as   an  imperfect 

science,  110-114 

—  On  Comte,  Tyndall  and  Mill,  112-113 

—  Every  explanation  only  serves   to 

open  new  problems,  113 

—  There  must,  at  one  time,  have  been 

arbitrary  determinations,  113 

—  On  infinite   series    of    diminishing 

solar  systems,  124 

—  "  When     fairly     pursued     science 

makes  absurd  drafts  upon  our 
powers  of  comprehension  and 
belief,"  124 

—  Result  of  harmonising  a  few  facts 

is  to  raise  up  a  host  of  other  un- 
explained facts,  127 

—  Statement  of  Professor  De  Morgan's 

qualifications,  290 

Joan  of  Arc,  Type  of  humble  recipients 
of  divine  and  spiritual  revelation 
and  power,  which  the  older  Church 


Joan  of  Arc — continued 

has  always  received  with  approval 
and  often  with  high  recognition 
and  even  beatification,  19 

Johnson,  Samuel,  Apparitional  case 
narrated  in  his  biography,  and  by 
Washington  Irving,  309-310 

Johnson,  Miss  Alice  (S.P.R.),  Report 
of  prevision  in  Terriss  murder 
case,  310 

KANT,  Immanuel,  On  instinct ;  the 
"  Voice  of  God,"  158,  222 

Kelvin,  Lord,  On  demonstrated  daily 
miracle  of  our  human  free-will, 

94-95 

—  On  the  infinite  difference  in  plant 

and  animal  life  and  our  conscious- 
ness, from  any  possible  results 
of  the  fortuitous  concourse  of 
atoms,  95 

—  On  perpetual  miracle  of  life,  200 

—  On      "  Ether     and      Gravitational 

Matter   through    Infinite   Space," 

353 

Kepler,  His  researches  pursued  by  the 
methods  employed  by  spiritualists 
in  their  investigations,  69 
—  Aggressive  scepticism  fatal,  69 
Kidd,  Benjamin,  A  Rational  religion  a 
scientific    impossibility,    being    a 
contradiction  in  terms,  103 

—  Deep  -  seated    instincts  of    society 

have  a  truer  scientific  basis  than 

our  current  science,  106 
King,     John     (the     Old     Buccaneer, 

Morgan),    Purports    to    write    in 

three  colours,  on  closed  slates,  for 

Mr  P.,  318-320 
King,  Katie,  Her  last  appearances  to 

Sir  Wm.  Crookes,  256-260 

—  The  Crookes,  photographs  of,  256- 

257 

Kipling,  Rudyard,  "  A  rag,  and  a  bone, 
and  a  hank  of  hair,"  146 

Knott,  Professor  C.  G.,  On  sensitive- 
ness of  the  ear  to  atmospheric 
vibrations,  262-263 

LADD,  Professor,  On  the  subconscious, 

147 

Lamarck,  Chevalier  (Jean  Baptiste 
Pierre  Antoine  de  Monet),  On 
causality,  46 

—  On  nature,  47 

—  On  free-will,  47 

—  On  God,  46-47 

—  His      investigations      resulted     in 

modern  biology,  133 

—  Overwhelmed  by  the  great  influence 

of  Cuvier,  backed  by  the  Church, 

133 

—  Revived     and     re-established     by 

Charles  Darwin,  133 


420 


GENERAL   INDEX   OF 


Lamarck — continued 

—  Lamarck  driven    back   by  his    re- 

searches to  a  designing,  creating, 
and  continuously  executing  God, 

133 
Lane,  Frederick,  His  prevision  of  the 

murder  of  Terriss,  the  actor,  311 
Lang,  Andrew,  On   the   divining  rod, 

283 

—  On  proportion  of  failures,  283 

—  The  failures  may  not  be  real  failures, 

279 

Language,  American  languages  all 
polysynthetic,  198 

—  Anthropologists     agree    that     this 

determines    an    independent    de- 
velopment,  if  not  origin,   of  the 
American  races,  198 
Lao  Tsze,  Ancient  Chinese  philosopher, 
600-500  B.C.,  155 

—  The  commentaries  of    Kwang  Tsze 

on,  155-156 

Laplace,  On  the  denial  of  any  pheno- 
mena in  our  present  ignorance  of 
the  agents  of  nature,  125 

—  Scrupulous  attention  required,  125 
Lardner,  Dr  Nathaniel,  Canon  was  not 

settled  until  about  556  ;  prior  to 
that  time,  "  Christian  people  were 
at  liberty  to  judge  for  themselves 
concerning  the  genuineness  of  the 
writings,"  23 

Layman,  Dr  Alfred,  Case  of  prevision 
by  Private  Shuler,  of  his  own 
death  in  battle,  months  before  his 
death  ;  the  scene  pictured,  303- 
306 

—  Experiments     with      a      trumpet- 

medium,   336-337 

Le  Bon,  Gustave,  His  "  Psychology  of 
Peoples,"  193 

—  Religious  beliefs  the  most  important 

element  in  the  life  of  peoples,  193 

—  The  fundamental  questions  always 

religious,  193 

—  On  religious  beliefs  of  peoples,  "  the 

most  important  element,"  394 
Le  Conte,   Professor  Joseph,  Man  an 
immortal  spirit,  163 

—  On  the  sole  basis  of  morals,  religion 

and  virtue,  163 

—  Belief  intuitive  and  universal,  unless 

plagued  by  metaphysical  subtle- 
ties, 163 

Leibnitz,  His  two  criteria  of  truth, 
400-401 

Lewes,  G.  H.,  Religious  philosophy  a 
contradiction  in  terms,  103 

—  On  laws  alleged  to  be  known,  249 

—  Whoever  says,  "  If  phenomena  are 

produced  by  no  known  physical 
laws,  he  declares  he  knows  the 
laws  by  which  they  are  produced," 
250 


Lewis,  Mrs  Lsetitia,  Not  a  medium,  255 

—  Spiritual    manifestations,    "  nearly 

scared    my  daughter   to    death," 

255 

Life      (see      Orton's      "  Comparative 
Zoology,"  p.  30) 

—  Professor  Conn  on,  225 

—  As  far  now  from  a  natural  explana- 

tion as  before  discovery  of  proto- 
plasm, 225 

—  Professor  James  Orton  on  immediate 

organisation  of  complex  living 
animals  from  formless  matter, 
31,  229 

—  Von  Hartmann  on  reproduction  of 

two  halves  of  a  severed  worm,  the 
reproduced  parts  being  totally 
unlike  the  remaining  halves  on 
which  they  are  formed,  95 

—  Professor  W.  H.    Thomson  on  de- 

velopment of  a  whale,  95 

—  When  a  microscopic  speck  a  greater 

living  thing  than  when  full-grown, 

95 

—  Professor  N.  S.  Shaler  on  physical 

organisation  of  man,  222 

—  The  old  bondage  of  the  mind  to  the 

body  swept  away,  222 

—  The  frame  remains  essentially  un- 

changed, 222 

—  Orton  says  "  animals  are  organised 

because  they  are  alive"  ("Com- 
parative Zoology,"  p.  30) 

—  Sir  William  Crookes  on,  238 

—  Sees  in  life  the  promise  and  potency 

of  all  forms  of  matter,  238 

—  The  psychology  of  micro-organisms, 

182-183,  220 

—  The     centrosomes,     "  commanding 

generals,"  218 
Locke,    John,    On    God,  spirits    and 

revelation,  n,  205-208 
Lodge,  Sir  Oliver,  The  whole  of  us  not 

incarnated  in  our  terrestrial  bodies, 

224 

—  Portions  not  ordinarily  manifested 

may  appear  in  men  of  genius,  in 
mediums,  etc.,  224 

—  On  demonstration  of  a  future  life, 

299 

—  We     are    progressing     sufficiently 

rapidly,  299 

—  On  the  ether,  free  and  bound,  353- 

354 

—  On  work  of  surviving  personalities 

after  death,  395-396 

—  Not  a  life  of    idleness ;    personal 

service,  396 
Longfellow,  H.  W.,  Lesson  of  his  poem, 

"  Excelsior,"  242 
Luther,  Martin,  Until  his  revolt  the 

whole  Church  was  spiritualistic,  18 

—  The  spiritualism  of  the  type  known 

as  modern,  18 


SUBJECTS    AND    AUTHORITIES 


421 


Luther,  Martin — continued 

—  He  himself  a  believer  in  this  spirit- 

ualism, 21 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  Far  back  in  geo- 
logical times  human  remains  show 
that  the  dead  were  fitted  out  for 
journeying  to  the  land  of  spirits,  57 

Lyte,  Rev.  H.  F.,  The  grand  hymn  and 
prayer,  "  Abide  with  me,"  49 

McCosH,  President  James,  His  three 
criteria  of  truth,  401-404 

—  The  author's  illustrations  of  same, 

402,  403,  404 

McHatton-Ripley,  Mrs,  Case  of  fascina- 
tion of  frog  by  a  rattlesnake, 
287-288 

McKavett,  Captain  (U.S.A.),  Prevision 
of  his  own  death,  307-308 

Mackintosh,  Sir  James,  "  There  can  be 
no  belief  that  there  can  be  no 
belief,"  209 

Magic,  Practices  narrated  in  the  Bible 
which  would  apparently  come 
under  such  designation,  25,  389-393 

Mallock,  His  "  New  Republic  " 

—  On  supplanting  polytheism,  119 

—  On  study  of  nature  ;    they  do  not 

study  it,  1 20 
Malobservation,    Consideration   of,    as 

an      explanation      of      psychical 

phenomena,  299-300 
Man,  "  A  religious  as  well  as  a  political 

animal,"  7 
Manetohcoa,  Old  Red  Indian  conjurer  ; 

crystal  vision,  271 
Marmery,  J.  V.,  On  atomic  energy,  262 

—  Millions  of  times  greater  and  more 

powerful    than    any    other    with 
which  we  are  acquainted,  262 

—  Statement  of  the  qualifications  of 

Professor  De  Morgan,  290 
Marryat,     Florence     {see     Mrs     Ross 

Church),  128 
Martin,    President    W.    A.    P.,      On 

planchette  in  China,  275 
Masson,  David,  On  notions  of  pheno- 
menal world,  of  man  and  animals, 

135 

—  As  though  there   is  a  basis  of  in- 

dependent reality  to  which  each 
sentiency  can  help  itself,  135 

—  On  philosophy  pretending  to  regu- 

late and  supervise  that  of  which 
it  is  ignorant,  161 

—  If  Zero  be  reached,  there  can  be  no 

evolution  ;  if  Deity  is  at  the  back, 
then  it  is  Deity  and  not  Zero,  162 
Materialism     proven    worthless,    Pre- 
face v. 

—  Materialism  and  transcendentalism, 

Preface  v. 

—  Controversy       with        materialism 

practically  ended,  Preface  v. 


Materialism — continued 

—  Lines  formerly  followed  erroneous, 

3 

—  Vast  changes  due  to  abandonment 

of,  3 

—  Professor  Shaler  on  strong  reaction 

against,  58 

—  The  great  authorities  formerly  held 

to  be  in  favour  of  materialism 
have  been  erroneously  cited,  171 

—  Their  teachings  quite  the  reverse,  171 

—  Its  basis  a  mistaken  one,  171 

—  Definition    of,    synonymous    with 

empiricism,  171,  215-216 

—  Its  sole  reward  a  blank,  203-204 

—  Absurdity  of  materialists  as  mission- 

aries, 204 

—  Sir  Wm.  Crookes  on  life,  with  refer- 

ence to  matter,  238 

—  Romanes  on  misery  of  materialists  ; 

husks  for  starving  belly ;  high 
confectionery  for  the  starving, 
185-186 

Materialisations,     Discussion    on    the 
question  of,  339 

—  Cases    of    apparent    dematerialisa- 

tion,  341,  342 

—  Some  possible  explanation  of,  350- 

356 

—  Bound  ether  as  a  factor,  350-354 
Matthew,    Gospel    according    to,   The 

espousal  of  Mary  by  Joseph,  101- 
102 
Maya  Codices,  Their  symbolism  ;  idols, 

195 

Medical  profession,  attitude  of,  toward 
psychological  phenomena,  339 

—  The    opinion    that    the    profession 

tends  toward  atheism  is  errone- 
ous, 339 

—  When  the  veneer  is  stripped  off  the 

reverse  appears,  339 

—  Dr  Bayley's  paper,  and  the  result, 

339-341 

—  Census     of     600     physicians,     by 

Ridgway's  Magazine,  342 
Melancthon,     Like     the     other    com- 
panions of  Luther,  a  spiritualist,  21 
Memory,    The    final    battleground    of 
materialism,  152 

—  Dialogue  to  illustrate  that  memory 

is  non-physical,  153-154 

—  Professor  Bowen  on  memory,  155- 

157 

—  Example    from   library   in    British 

Museum,  156 

—  The  subconscious  "  picker,"  157 

—  Law  of    parsimony   forbids  multi- 

plication of  the  pickers,  or  the 
construction  of  a  physical  museum 
of  "  impressions,"  when  the  picker 
must  know  it  all  beforehand  with- 
out such  physical  mustum,  157 

—  Familiarity  with  a  name  (such  as 


422 


GENERAL    INDEX   OF 


Memory — continued 

"  impressions  ")  gradually  makes 
the  name  the  explanation,  152 

—  "  Association  of  ideas  "  inapplicable 

in  whole  fields  of  memory,  157 

—  Memory  belongs  to  that  psychical 

order  of  phenomena  described  by 
Sir  John  Herschel  as  of  "  atoms  " 
in  their  movements  and  behaviour, 
and  of  causation  as  volitional, 
158 

—  Lapse  of,  as  an  alleged  explanation 

of  psychical  phenomena,  299 

—  If  valid,  would  exclude  all  human 

testimony,  and  all  community  of 
social  life,  and  civilisation,  300 

—  Lapse  of  memory  may  drop  from, 

but  cannot  add  to,  300 
Merwin,  H.  C.,  On  "  Patentability  of 
Inventions,"  139 

—  Court  decisions  cited,   141-143 
Micro-organisms,  Psychology  of,    182- 

183 

—  Revelations  of  primordial  psychic 

life,  182-183 

— If  obtained  by  physical  evolution  the 
evolution  must  have  come  by  a 
leap,  183 

—  Their  psychical  attributes  ;  memory, 

friendship,  love,  likes  and  dislikes, 
choice,  sport,  etc.,  etc.,  183-184 

—  Haeckel  on  birth  of  the  soul  from 

sexual  union  ;    disproved  by  the 
psychology  of  the  vast  preponder- 
ance of  asexual  births,  218-219 
Mill,  John  Stuart,  His  teachings,  205 

—  The  "  inexplicability  "  which  over- 

threw his  system  ;    his  final  con- 
cession, 2IO-2II 
Mind,  From  Zero  or  from  Deity,  162 

—  Herbert  Spencer  on  our  conscious- 

ness as  derived  from  the  Infinite 
and  Eternal  Energy,  that  it  is 
specialised  and  individualised  here, 
and  returns  to  its  source  at  death, 
214 

—  Romanes  on  psychism  of  man  as 

kindred  with  the  psychism  of  the 
universe,  "  The  Spirit  of  the 
Universe,"  84 

—  Dr     Hammond's     statement     that 

mind  is  analogous  to  bile,  to 
candlelight,  to  coal-fire,  12 

—  Contradicted    by  his    own   experi- 

ments, 107,  213 

—  Masson    on    basis    of    independent 

reality,  135 

—  Huxley    on    consciousness    as    the 

medium  of  interpretation  of  the 
consciousness  of  the  universe,  212, 
213 

—  The  existence  of  mind  cannot  be 

denied,  for  it  must  exist,  even  to 
deny  that  it  exists,  161,  209 


Mind — continued 

—  Professor  Le  Conte  on  matter  and 

spirit,  163 

—  Professor    Wm.    H.    Thomson    on 

mind  as  a  great  reality  ;  nothing 
inconceivable  about  its  separate 
existence,  225 

—  Simply  a  matter  of  evidence,  225 
Miracles,  The  miracles  of  one  age  the 

science  of  the  next,  91 

—  New  Testament  miracles,  92 

—  The  miracles  of  plant  and  animal 

growth  far  more  miraculous  than 
those  of  Scripture,  92 

—  Only  our  familiarity  blinds  us,  92 

—  Lord  Kelvin  on  such  miracles,  94- 

95 

—  Lord    Kelvin    on    plant-life,    con- 

sciousness, and  free  -  will,  as 
miracles,  94 

—  Von     Hartmann     on     miracle     of 

severed  annelid,  95 

—  Tennyson  on   miracle  of  flower  in 

wall,  138 

—  Professor     W.     H.     Thomson     on 

development  of  a  whale,  95 

—  Stewart   and   Tait   on   miracles  in 

accordance  with  the  continuity  of 
nature,  and  an  intelligent  agent, 
95-96,  i 08 

—  The    virgin    conception    of    Jesus, 

parthenogenesis,  96 

—  Not  uncommon  ;  the  usual  mode  h 

lower  organisms,  96 

—  Occurrences    of    same    in    hums 

beings,  97-100 

—  Hume's  argument  against  miracle 

long  exploded,  88-92 

—  Recently  revamped  by  a  so-called 

clergyman,  99-103 

—  Huxley  on  miracles  ;  not  impossible, 

100 

—  The  miracles  within  our  own  bodies, 

1 06 

—  The   "  miracles  "   of  the   Rev.   Dr 

Sanders,  107 

—  Carlyle  on  miracles,  265-266 
Modern    Mexico,   Late    magazine,    on 

Yucatan  Poltergeists,  302 

Moebius,  On  psychology  of  micro- 
organisms, cited  by  Binet,  183 

Mohammed,    Vision   of   night-visit 
spirit  world,  285 

Momerie,  Professor,  Accidental  origin 
of  the  universe  and  consciousness 
only  conceivable  by  an  extrava- 
gant fanatic,  85 

Montgomery,  Professor,  On   the  sut 
consciousness,  148 

Montucci,    Father,    On    pre-Christis 
revelations,  41 

Moody,  Rev.  Dwight  L.,  His  statement 
of  the  abandonment  of  Christ's 
commission ;  hardly  a  name  so 


SUBJECTS   AND   AUTHORITIES 


423 


Moody,  Rev.  D wight,  L. — continued 
unpopular   as    Jesus   Christ's   to- 
day, 29 

Mooney,  James,  Crystal  vision  among 
Cherokees,  272 

Morgan,  Old  English  Buccaneer,  Said 
to  be  the  original  of  John  King, 
256,  318-320 

Morris,  Charles,  Extract  from  plan- 
chette  writing  ;  appearance  of  an 
interjector ;  her  life  and  death 
described,  330-333 

Myers,  F.  W.  H.,  On  the  subconscious, 
223-224 

—  Each   of   us   an   abiding  psychical 

entity  far  more  extensive  than  he 
knows,  224 

—  His  "  Human  Personality,"  297 
Muller,  Max,  On  revivals,  5 

—  Extract     from     his     "  Memories " 

(God  and  Eternity),  190 
Murdock,  Definition  of   transcendent- 
alism, 216 

NATURE,  Its  etymology,  and  significa- 
tion ;  "  born,"  17 

—  Romanes  on  the  psychism  of  the 

universe,  17 

—  Problem  of  nature  is  the  problem  of 

mind,  17 

—  Lamarck  on  nature,  47,  133 

—  Sir  John   Herschel  on  nature,   44- 

46 

—  Sir  Isaac  Newton  on  nature,  47 

—  Nikola    Tesla    on     "  stored    up " 

energy  in  nature,  225 

—  Herbert    Spencer   on    Infinite    and 

Eternal  Energy,  from  which  our 
consciousness  is  derived,  and  to 
which  it  returns  at  death,  214 

Newbold,  Professor,  Referred  to  in 
communication  of  Dr  Hodgson, 
after  his  death,  to  Dr  Bayley, 
295-296 

Newman,  Cardinal,  His  hymn,  "  Lead, 
Kindly  Light,"  50 

—  On  our  union  after  death,  145 
New    Testament,    The    writers    con- 
firmed and  expanded  the  spiritual- 
ism of  the  past  and  present,  and 
directed  it  to  the  conversion  of 
the  world,  29 

—  Jesus   unable    to    do    great   works 

where  faith  was  wanting,  63 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  On  causality ;    on 
instinct,  47 

—  His  methods  of  research,  69 

—  On  gravitation,  147 

Nevius,  Rev.  Dr  John  L.,  On  spiritual- 
ism in  China,  68 

—  His   circular   to   missionaries,    and 

their  replies,  69 

Nus,  Eugene,  His  sardonic  dedication 
to  "  Savants,"  173 


ORTON,  Professor  James,  His  "  Com- 
parative Zoology,"  31 

—  (His  statement   that   life  organises 

forms,  p.  30  of  his  book) 

—  On  larva  and  imago,  31 

—  On   physical   heredity ;     one   form 

disappears  in  formless  matter 
before  its  successor  begins,  31, 
229 

PARRY,  Captain,  His  second  voyage  to 
the  Arctic,  267 

—  His  interviews  with  missionaries  and 

Eskimo,  195-197,  267-268 
Paul  the  Apostle,  "  Without  this,  our 
hope  is  vain,"  100 

—  Whether  inside  or  outside  the  body, 

285 

Philosophy,  Romanes  says  the  philo- 
sophy of  the  cosmos  becomes  a 
philosophy  of  the  unconscious 
only  because  it  is  a  philosophy  of 
the  superconscious,  84 

Photographs,  Spirit-photographs  con- 
sidered, 256-257,  261-264 

Pilate,  Pontius,  Tacitus  says  that 
"  Christus,  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius, 
was  put  to  death  as  a  criminal,  by 
the  Procurator,  Pontius  Pilate," 
101 

—  His  question,   "  What  is  truth  ?  " 

399 

—  The  answer,  the  criteria  of  truth,  404 
Piper,  Mrs,    The    well-known    S.P.R. 

medium,  295-299 

Planchette,  Its  use  in  China  for  more 
than  a  thousand  years,  276 

—  Belief    in    its    revelations    by    the 

literati  in  China,  276 

—  No  sign  that  the  practice  "  has  had 

its  day,"  276 
Pliny    the    Younger,     His    testimony 

that  Christians  worshipped  Christ 

as  God  (Christo  quasi  Deo),  101 
Poltergeists,  Yucatan  case,  as  narrated 

by  Stephens,  301-302 

—  Valid  reports  of  such  cases  innumer- 

able, 302 
Polysynthesis,    All    native    American 

languages  polysynthetic,  198 
Prendergast,  Colonel,   Prevision,  with 

date,  of  his  own  death,  309-310 
Pritts,  J.,  publisher  of  "  Border  Life," 

which  contains  Smith's  narrative 

of  Red  Indian  crystal  vision,  270 
Podmore,  Frank,  Report  of  prevision 

in  Terriss  case,  310-315 
Poe,    Edgar    Allan,    Compared    with 

Chopin,  49 
Prevision,    Shuler    case    reported    by 

Dr  Layman,  303-306 

—  Cases  reported  by  General  Gordon, 

307-308 

—  Case  of  Captain  McKavett,  307-308 


424 


GENERAL    INDEX   OF 


Prevision — continued 

—  Case    narrated    by    General    Ogle- 

thorpe,  309-310 

—  Case  of  William  Terriss  the  actor, 

3IO-3.I5 

—  Previsional  dream  of  three  ladies, 

337-338 

Probation,  The  only  rational  explana- 
tion of  life,  228 

Protestant  Theology,  Danger  in  any 
creed  based  solely  on  an  ancient 
record,  25 

—  Multiplication  of  sects  inevitable,  25 

—  In  repudiating  living  spiritualism, 

compelled  to  accept  a  materialistic 
nature,  26 

—  To  successfully  attack  the  older  and 

more  spiritualistic  Church  (but 
in  which  spiritualism  had  been 
made  sacerdotal),  compelled  to 
repudiate  spiritualism,  40 

—  Its    basal    false    assumption,    that 

nature  is  in  control,  and  that,  "  if 
there  be  a  personal  God,  He  is 
not  immediately  concerned  with 
natural  causation,"  51 
Protoplasm  a  machine,  not  a  chemical 
substance,  225 

—  We  do  not  know  the  essential  differ- 

ences of  protoplasms,  and  what  we 
do  know  appear  to  be  wholly 
accidental  and  irrelevant,  221 

—  No    difference    in    protoplasms    in 

which  possibilities  of  form  can  be 
expressed,  221 

—  Protoplasm  of  the  imago  formless, 

and  moulded  by  the  life  principle, 

i?.  3i 
Psychology,  Present  trend  of,  Preface  v. 

—  Formerly  lacked  means  and  appli- 

ances, 8 

—  Basis  of   psychology  is  the   trans- 

cendental, ii 

—  Has  advanced  so  far  as  to  make 

retrogression  impossible,  13 

—  Definition  of,  13 

—  Is  psychical  or  spiritualistic,  14 

—  Psychology    among    the     Chinese, 

68 

—  Testimony  of  missionaries,  69 

—  Rate    of    sensations    no    part    of 

psychology,  160 

—  What    is     it     that     travels  ?     the 

identity  of  a  man  who  is  muti- 
lated, 160 

—  Professor    Ladd    on    the    missing 

word,  "  shot  up  from  the  hidden 
depth  below,"  160 

—  On  the  gift  of  consciousness,  16 

—  How    do    we    know    that    present 

trend  of  psychology  will  continue  ? 
178 

—  The  problems  become  simpler  as  we 

advance,  179 


Psychology — continued 

—  The  conceded  abandonment  of  brute 

matter,   179 

—  Modern  views  of  matter  essentially 

psychological,  355 

—  List  of  names  of  prominent  psycho- 

logists,  181 

—  Importance  of  the  study  of  micro- 

organisms, 183 

—  "  God    opens   wide    all   His    doors 

down  there,"  183 

—  Popular   error  regarding    teachers, 

205 

—  The    centrosomes    in    micro-organ- 

isms, 218 

—  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  on  parts  of  us  not 

incarnated  here,  224 

—  May  appear  as  genius,  mediumship, 

etc.,  224 

—  Professor    James    on    the   subcon- 

sciousness,  223 

—  W.   H.   F.  Myers  on  "an  abiding 

psychical  entity  far  more  ex- 
tensive than  he  knows,"  224 

—  Professor   Barrett  on  the    "larger 

life,"  224 

—  Our  union  in  the  solidarity  of  mind, 

225 

—  Professor  Conn  on  life  and  proto- 

plasm, 225 

—  Professor    Wm.    H.    Thomson    on 

mind  as  a  great  reality,  225 

—  Professor  Orton  on  psychology  in 

metamorphosis,  31 

—  His   psychology   in    "  Comparative 

Zoology  "  (see  p.  30  of  his  book)  ; 
"  animals  do  not  live  because  they 
are  organised,  but  are  organised 
because  they  are  alive." 

—  The  vast  scientific  change  regard- 

ing psychology  in  the  past  quarter 
of  a  century,  235 

—  Sir  Wm.  Crookes  on  the  promise  and 

potency  of  life,  238 

—  His     address     on     science     before 

British  Association,  237-238 

—  Supernormal  is  only  in  the  sense  of 

extraordinary,  268 

—  Use  of  such  terms  as  "  magnetism," 

to  disguise  psychology,  269 

—  Cases  of  prevision,  which,  if  true, 

must  be  psychological,  303-315 

—  Experiments  in  changing  weights, 

236,  316-326 

—  List  of  experimental  demonstrations 

by  Sir  Wm.  Crookes,  236-237 

—  The  correct  attitude  of  psychology 

to-day,  326 

—  Experiments     in     passing     matter 

through  matter,  367-368 

—  Planchette  case  narrated  by  Charles 

Morris,  330-333 

—  Table-tipping  case  narrated  by  the 

Author,  372-375 


SUBJECTS   AND   AUTHORITIES 


425 


Psychology — continued 
— "Spirit-rapping    case    narrated     by 
Professor  De  Morgan,  291-292 

—  Automatic  reports  of  sermons  by  a 

young  girl,  375 

—  The   psychology   of   religious   con- 

version, 383-387 

—  Consciousness    and    the    bases    of 

psychology,  397-39$ 

—  Carpenter's    concessions    of    "  im- 

mediate insight,"  398 

—  No  study  which  will  bring  richer 

returns,  405 
Psychic    Life,     Micro-organisms,     225 

(see   also  Conn's    "  Story  of   the 

Living  Machine,"  pp.  96-100) 
P.  Mr,  Personal  friend  of  the  Author, 

his  experiments,  316-320 

—  His  original  records  in  possession 

of  the  Author,  320-324 

—  Advice     to    his    children     against 

seeking    knowledge    from    public 
mediums,  326 

RELIGION,  An  everlasting  reality,  7 

—  Aspect  of  religion  recently  changed, 

7 

—  The     central     truth     now,     God's 

fatherhood  and  Man's  brother- 
hood, 8 

—  All  religions  of  God,  and  all  spiritual- 

istic, 55 

—  Brinton  on  religion  in  general,  56 

—  Tylor  on  religion  in  the  past,  56 

—  Sir  Charles  Lyell  on  primitive  re- 

ligion, 57 

—  Paul  Broca  on  the  same,  57 

—  Author      of       "  Supernatural      in 

Nature  "  on  the  same,  57 

—  Epes  Sargent  on  the  same,  57 

—  Higher  and  lower  religions  funda- 

mentally alike,  8,  167 

—  J.  Estlin  Carpenter  on  the  univers- 

ality and  identity  of  religions,  83 

—  Kidd  on  a  rational  religion,  "  con- 

tradiction in  terms,"  103 

—  G.  H.  Lewes  on  the  same,  103 

—  Huxley  on"  Religion  of  Humanity," 

103 

—  Stewart  and  Tait  on  what  Christ  did 

as  a  fulfilment  of  law,  103 

—  Lord  Kelvin  on  free-will  as  a  daily 

miracle,  103 

—  Romanes  on  agnosticism,  103 

—  Romanes   on   the   Resurrection   of 

Jesus,  104 

—  Outcome  of  the  great  textual  battle 

(Higher  Criticism),  Romanes  says 
"  Signal  Victory  for  Christianity," 
104 

—  Spiritual  revelation  the  basis  of  all 

religion,  162 

—  John  Stuart  Mill ;  if  a  Deity  exists, 

then  revelation  is  ordinary  and 


Religion — continued 

normal,  and  to  be  expected, 
162 

—  As  old  and  universal  as  humanity, 

167 

—  Basis  always  spiritualistic,  167 

-  The    great   Overgod   intact   in    all 
religions,  167 

—  The  old  Spencerian  idea  that  re- 

ligion arose  from  ghosts,  dreams 
and  the  like  abandoned,  168 

—  Prior    to    sixteenth    century    the 

whole  Christian  Church  avowedly 
spiritualistic,  168 

—  Romanes     on     basis     of     conflict 

between  religion  and  science  ;  due 
to  acceptance  of  Nature  for  God, 
169 

—  Results  of  divorcing  religion  from 

ever-acting  God,  170 

—  Romanes'   picture  of  soul-starving 

misery  outside  faith  in  God,  184- 
185 

—  Satisfactions  which  follow  on  faith 

in  God,  186-187 

—  Le  Bon  on  only  gift  which  can  en- 

dow men  with  happiness,  394 

—  S.  R.  Crockett's  contrast ;   the  two- 

legged  and  the  donkey,  187-188 

—  Max  Miiller  on   religious   basis  in 

man,  188-190 

—  Spiritualism  of  the  universe,  190 

—  On  idols  as  mere  physical  repre- 

sentatives, 197 

—  Religious   beliefs   of  the  primitive 

Eskimo,  196-197 

—  Summary   of   religious   conclusions 

of  Romanes,  228-229 

—  Basis  of  all  religion  is  spiritualism, 

245 

—  From  Paganism  to  modern  Christi- 

anity, 246 

—  Sincere  believers   have  always  re- 

pudiated dogmatic  theology,  247 

—  Perverted     theology     allied     with 

empiricism,  247-248 

—  Mrs  De  Morgan  ;  her  citations  from 

the  Bible,  388-393 

—  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  on  work  of  sur- 

viving spirits,  395-396 

—  Leigh  Hunt  on  love  of  fellow-man, 

396 
Religious    Tract    Society   of    London 

—  On    the    assumed    withdrawal    of 

spiritual  power  from  the  Church  ; 
"  no  longer  needed,"  26-27 

—  The  consequences,  27 

—  Rev.    Dwight    L.    Moody ;     same 

condition    now    as    He    found    it 
1800  years  ago,  28 

Resurrection,  Irenaeus  on  resurrections 
in  his  day,  29 

—  "  Suspended       animation  "      con- 

sidered, 30 


426 


GENERAL    INDEX    OF 


Resurrection — continued 

—  No  scientific  test  of  absolute  death, 

3i 

—  Sir    John    Franklin   on    revival   of 

frozen  fish,  31 

—  Revival  of  drowned  house-flies,  32 

—  Professor  Michael  Foster  on  dead 

and  living  body,  94 

—  Professor    Win.    H.    Thomson    on 

living  and  dead  protoplasm,  94 

—  Evidences  of  resurrection,  101 
Revelation.     Stewart     and     Tait     on 

revelation,  107-109 

—  John  Stuart  Mill  on  revelation,  162 
Revivals  necessary  in  all  religions,  5 
Richet,  Professor  Charles,  On  coming 

integration,  1 7 
Ridgway's   Magazine,     Census   of   600 

physicians  on  immortality,  342 
Roberts,   Dr  Alexander,    On    original 

Greek  Testament,  22-23 
Roman      Catholic      Church,      Always 

spiritualistic,  19 

—  Grew  to  claim  sacerdotal  control,  19 

—  Revolt  inevitable,  21,  168 
Romanes,  George  John,  On  the  "  Spirit 

of  the  Universe,"  17 

—  Its  psychism  akin  to  our  own,  17- 

—  On  Resurrection  of  Jesus,  34-35 

—  On  causality,  43 

—  His  experience  at  Cambridge,  "  all 

the  most  illustrious  names  were 
ranged  on  the  side  of  Orthodoxy," 

47 

—  His  statement  of  the   great  basal 

religious  fallacy  by  which  God  is 
grudged  His  own  universe,  51-52 

—  On     moral     satisfactions     without 

faith  in  God,  which  always  land 
us  in  misery,  84 

—  On  nature  and  its  psychology,  84 

—  Physical  causation  cannot  furnish 

its  own  explanation,  84 

—  On     Hume's     argument     against 

miracles,  90 

—  Faith,  as  contradistinguished  from 

opinion,  91 

—  On  service  rendered  to  Christianity 

by  modern  agnosticism,  103 

—  Battle  of  higher  criticism  a  signal 

victory  for  Christianity,  104 

—  Those   who   reject  Christianity   do 

not  care  for  any  religion,  104 

—  Explanation  of  his  earlier  book,  119 

—  His  primal  errors  at  that  time,  119 

—  On  conflict  of  science  and  religion, 

169 

—  Repudiated    the    facts    and    con- 

clusions of  Haeckel,  172 

—  Sketch    of    his    life    and    pursuits, 

182-186 

—  His     last     work,     "  Thoughts     on 

Religion,"  183-184 


Romanes,  George  John — continued 

—  Evolution  in   analogy  with  God's 

other  work,  184 

—  His  picture  of  the  misery  of  those 

who  lack  faith  in  God,  185-186 

—  Summary  of  his  scientific  position. 

227-229 

—  His  nearly  fatal  oversight  in  early 

life,  227 

—  Was  "  too  much  immersed  in  merely 

physical  research,"  227 

—  His  later  work  and  results,  228 

—  On  the  integrating  principle  of  the 

whole  ;    a  psychism,  229 

—  On     the     fatal     alliance     between 

theology  and  materialism,  240 

—  On  unbelief,  usually  due  to  indol- 

ence, often  to  prejudice,  and  never 
a  thing  to  be  proud  of,  252 
Roosevelt,     President     Theodore,     on 
reliability  of  Col.  James  Smith,  270 

SALISBURY,  Lord,  On  dim  and  flickering 

island  of  light,  112 
Sandeman,  George,  His  "  Problems  of 

Biology,"  221 

—  We  have  no  knowledge  of  the  form- 

determining  properties  of  germs  or 
protoplasms,  221 

Sanders,  Rev.  Dr  C.  B.,  His  psychical 
revelations  entitled  X  +  Y  =  Z;  or 
"  The  Sleeping  Preacher,"  107 

Sargent,  Epes,  All  tribes  have  had  their 
prophets,  seers,  sensitives,  psy- 
chics or  mediums,  57 

Schofield,  Dr  A.  T.,  His  remarkable 
series  of  works  on  the  subcon- 
scious mind,  128 

—  His  work  "  The  Force  of  Mind,"  339 
Schreiner,     Olive,     The     pursuit     of 

truth ;   on  the  topmost  height,  a 
single  feather  fluttered  down,  242 
Science,  Fallacies  of  physical  science,  3 

—  Physical  sciences  incapable  of  deal- 

ing with  psychology,  Preface  v. 

—  Narrowness  of  scientific  specialists,  9 

—  Alliance  of  materialistic  science  with 

materialistic  theology,  10 

—  Merely    physical    science    fatal    to 

breadth,  10,  227 

—  Had   science    turned   its   attention 

to  investigations  of  spiritualistic 
phenomena,  great  results  would 
have  followed,  16 

—  The  physical  sciences  deal  merely 

with  the  temporary,  16 

—  The  future  of  science  when  it  has 

assumed  its  true  attitude,  17 

—  In  order  to  advance,   it  must  be 

constantly  shifting  its  ground,  71 

—  Physiological  psychology  not  psy- 

chology at  all,  72 

—  The  "  Scientific  method  "  the  only 

correct  method,  86 


SUBJECTS    AND    AUTHORITIES 


427 


Science — continued 

—  The  fatal  ban  of  a  priori,  87 

—  Kidd  on  the  deep-seated  instincts 

of  society,  106 

—  Stewart     and     Tait     on     artificial 

barrier  erected  by  science,  109 

—  Limitations  of  physical  science,  no 

—  Mathematical  science  limited   and 

imperfect,  no,  113 

—  Mathematical        writers        ignore 

problems,   no 

—  Failure    to    account    for    cosmical 

movements,  in 

—  Infallible  test  of  a  genuine  man  of 

science,  112 

—  Penalty  of  faithlessness  of  scientific 

teachers,  112 

—  Warnings  against  false  assumptions, 

116 

Scientific  ignorance  regarding  force, 
116 

—  Herschel,  Crookes,  Romanes,  Lord 

Kelvin,  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  on 
force,  116 

— Force  but  a  manifestation  of  change 
of  place,  116-117 

—  If  all  bodies  were  equally  endowed 

with  strain,  there  would  be  no 
force,  117 

—  Only    known    origin    of    force    is 

volition,  117 

—  The  new  sciences,  modern  biology, 

embryology,  microscopic  psy- 
chology, anthropology,  com- 
parative religions,  folklore,  etc., 
have  changed  the  whole  aspect  of 
science,  118 

—  Chemistry,   matter,  the  ether,  the 

bases  of  solids,  electricity,  etc., 
etc.,  have  forced  a  new  attitude 
upon  the  so-called  physical 
sciences,  118-119 

—  Professor  Shaler  on  study  of  the 

mind  by  naturalists ;  specialties 
tend  to  create  an  idol  of  prejudice  ; 
the  invisible  becomes  neglected, 
121 

—  On    immortality ;      says    men    of 

physical  science  least  qualified, 
they  must  enter  wildernesses  where 
they  have  no  right  to  tread,  122- 
123 

—  Professor  Shaler  says  that  denial  of 

immortality  and  soul  belongs  to 
the  days  when  naturalists  had  but 
begun  their  inquiries  into  the 
phenomenal  world,  123 

—  Professor  Shaler  says  that  students 

of  nature  are  now  nearer  to  those 
who  have  trusted  to  the  divining 
senses  than  ever  before,  123 

—  Professor  Jevons  on  infinite  series 

of  successive  orders  of  infinitely 
small  quantities ;  a  million  uni- 


Science — continued 

verses  scientifically  possible  within 
the  compass  of  a  needle's  point, 
124 

—  Science,  he  says,  when  fairly  pur- 

sued, makes  absurd  drafts  upon 
our  powers  of  comprehension  and 
belief,  124 

—  Professor  De  Morgan  on  the  over- 

bearing minister  of  nature ;  he 
wears  a  priest's  cast-off  garb,  dyed 
to  escape  detection,  125 

—  Laplace    says     it    would    not    be 

philosophical  to  deny  any  pheno- 
mena because,  at  present,  inex- 
plicable, 125  -*4 

—  Arago  says  doubt  is  scientific,  but 

the  opposite  is  true  of  incredulity, 
126 

—  Reserve,    he    says,    above    all    is 

necessary  in  dealing  with  the 
animal  organisation,  126 

—  Abercrombie  on  unlimited  sceptic- 

ism ;  one's  own  knowledge  not  a 
test  of  probability,  126 

—  The  dogmatism  of  theology  finds  a 

counterpart  in  the  dogmatism  of 
science,  126  "iH 

—  Jevons  :  the  result  of  harmonising  a 

few  facts  is  to  raise  up  a  host  of 
others,  127 

—  A.  R.  Wallace  ;   his  arraignment  of 

Dr  W.  B.  Carpenter  for  deliberate 
suppression  of  evidence  in  his 
"  Mental  Physiology,"  127 

—  Authorities  suppressed  by  Carpen- 

ter, 127-128 

—  The  gains  of  science,  enormous  for 

life  and  civilisation,  131 

—  Science  does  not  extend  to  its  own 

basic  principles,  131 

—  The  bases  have  simply  been  ignored 

or  suppressed,  131 

—  The    origin    of    modern     biology : 

Lamarck,  132-133 

—  Difficulties        encountered        from 

"  religion,"  and  "  science,"  133 

—  Professor  Graham   on   the   alleged 

atheism  of  science,  134 

—  A  state  of  chaos  never  has  been 

possible,  134 

—  Dr  Warschauer  on  the  phenomena 

of  science,  134 

—  It     merely     shows     that     certain 

phenomena  are  followed  by  others, 

134 

—  All  science  rests  on  prior  assump- 

tions transcending  science,  134 

—  Tyndall  on  physics  of  the  brain  and 

consciousness,  135 

—  Science    works    with    weights    and 

measurements,  159 

—  The  presence  of  an  a  priori  concedes 

scientific  failure,  159 


428 


GENERAL   INDEX    OF 


Science — continued 

—  The  pursuit  of  science  ;   its  limita- 

tions, 173 

—  Jevons  on  mathematical  problems  ; 

chances  a  million  against  one  that 
a  chance  one  can  be  solved,  175 

—  Sir  John  Herschel  on  the  movements 

of  atoms  ;  utter  failure  of  science 
to  even  reach  them,  175 

—  Only    explainable    by    mind    and 

volition  acting  upon  them,  176 

—  In  accounting  for  the  universe  by  a 

series  of  accidents,  the  accounting 
is  one  of  these,  176 

—  Sir  John  Herschel  on  will  without 

design,  176 

—  The  imitation,  school-book  science, 

as  popularly  taught,  177 

—  Huxley  on  residuum  of  solid  science, 

177 

—  Modesty  only  found  among  men  of 

science  of  first  rank,  177 

—  Problems  which  science  cannot  even 

approach,  174-175 

—  Scientific  teachers  have  spoken  too 

much  ex  cathedra,  179 

—  A  universal  consensus  always  covers 

a  great  fact,  179 

—  The  new  studies  have  greatly  cleared 

up  science,  180 

—  Men  of  science  of  foremost  rank  all 

with  us  to-day,  180 

—  The  inertia  of  the  past  the  only 

obstacle  now,  180 

—  The  awakening  of  science,  181 

—  Importance    of    study    of    micro- 

organisms, 182-183 

—  Not  possible  to  account  for  their 

psychism  from  heredity,  183 
(for  example,  Binet  cites  certain 
sea-weeds  the  offspring  of  which 
are  animals  [Zoospores],  and  very 
lively  and  intelligent  ones  at  that, 
see  pp.  84-86  of  his  "  Psychic  Life 
of  Micro-Organisms  ") 

—  Popular  error  regarding  the  teach- 

ings of  men  of  science,  205-219 

—  Spiritualism   pursues   the   methods 

of  science,  231-232 

—  De  Morgan  on  the  phenomena,  231 

—  Sir  Wm.  Crookes  on  the  advance- 

ment of  science,  237-238 

—  Natural  causation  became  the  god 

of  science,  246-247 

—  Dr  W.  B.  Carpenter  on  phenomena 

alleged  to  be  spiritualistic,  which 
are  quite  genuine  and  fair  subjects 
of  scientific  study,  252 

—  Photography  of  the  invisible,  262- 

264 
Sex,   Sexual  births  not  the  ordinary 

rule  in  nature,  218 
Shaler,    Professor    N.    S.,    On    strong 

reaction  against  materialism,  58 


Shaler,  Professor  N.  S. — continued 

—  Old    dogmatic    beliefs    now    over- 

thrown, 58 

—  Naturalists    see    mind    at   a    great 

disadvantage,  121 

—  Professor  Shaler  on  physical  organ- 

isation of  man,  222 

—  It  cannot  account  for  his  advance- 

ment, 222 

—  Professor  Shaler  on  heredity,  and 

on  man's  psychical  development, 
222 

—  On  Darwin's  proposed  pangenesis, 

223 

—  Naturalists  incompetent  in  questions 

of  immortality,   122 

—  On    heredity ;     quite    beyond    our 

field  of  knowledge,  223 
Sherman,   Loren  Albert,   Experiments 

in  "  soul-projection,"  285-287 
Shuler,  William,  killed  in  the  battle  of 

the  Wilderness,  305-306 
Simon,  Saint,  Theistic  French  socialist, 

Comte  his  disciple,  209 
Simpson,    J.    Hawkins,    On    objective 

appearances  in  crystal  vision,  250- 

251 
Slate    Writing,     Experimental    case ; 

slates  in  possession  of  the  Author, 

318-320 
Smedes,    Susan    Dabney,    Her    book, 

"  Memorials      of       a       Southern 

Planter  "  (well  known  in  England), 

287 

—  Case    of   clairvoyance    of   a    dying 

brother,  287 
Smith,  Colonel  James,  Case  of  crystal 

vision  among  the  Red  Indians  in 

Ohio,  270 
Society      for      Psychical      Research, 

Founded    1882,    constitution   and 

membership,  234-235 

—  The    work    it    has    accomplished, 

296-299 

—  Deaths  of  Gurney,  Sidgwick,  Myers 

and  Hodgson,  297 

—  Their  subsequent   communications 

through  mediums,  297-298 

—  Cross-correspondences,  296-299 

—  Some    experiments    before    one    of 

the  sections  of,  358-375 

Somnambulism,  Trance,  vision,  inspira- 
tion, 37 

Spencer,  Herbert,  His  statement  of 
the  emotions,  4 

—  His  agnosticism,  12 

—  His        latest       statement ;         our 

consciousness,  12 

—  At  one  time  met  facts  on  a  priori 

grounds,  76 

—  His     hypotheses     of     ghosts     and 

dreams  now  discredited,  168 

—  His  teachings  ;  his  concession  before 

his  death,  213-215 


SUBJECTS   AND   AUTHORITIES 


429 


Spencer,  Herbert — continued 

—  On   our    consciousness    as    derived 

from  the  Infinite  and  Eternal 
Energy,  specialised  and  indi- 
vidualised here  on  earth,  and 
lapsing  back  into  its  source,  at 
our  death,  355 
Spirit,  God  the  Father  of  spirits,  7 

—  Cognition  of  the  co-ordinated  indi- 

vidual body,  the  individual  spirit, 
the  spirit  of  nature,  and  the  spirit 
of  the  universe,  245 
Spirit  of  the  universe,  Romanes  on  this 
infinite  psychism,  84 

—  Akin  to  our  own,  84,  229 

—  The    integrating   principle    of    the 

whole,  229 
Spirit-rappings,  Professor  De  Morgan's 

experiment  with,  291 
Spiritual  conflict  within  the  Church,  37 

—  Du    Prel    on    somnambulism,    and 

development  of  the  trans- 
cendental, 36 

—  Sacerdotal  and  free  spiritualism,  37 
Spiritualism,  Rev.  Dr  Davies  on,  5 

—  Argument  for,  and  phenomena  of, 

15.  18 

—  Its  manifestations  universal  in  the 

older  Church,  21 

—  The  original  Protestant   reformers 

were  spiritualists,  21 

—  Its  practice  not  restricted  by  Jesus 

to  His  own  people,  25 

—  Modern   spiritualism   a   new    John 

the  Baptist,  with  its  rough  and 
often  uncouth  girdle  of  camel's 
hair,  and  its  uncultured  diet  of 
locusts  and  wild  honey,  etc.,  37-38, 
200 

—  Universal  in   all   ages,    among   all 

people,  37 

—  Professor      James      says,       "  The 

phenomena  are  among  the  most 
constant  in  history,"  59 

—  The      older      Christian      churches 

spiritualistic,  55 

—  Rev.  Dr  Ellinwood  on  possibility  of 

spirit  return,  58 

—  Its    fundamental    propositions   ex- 

perimentally obtained,  59 

—  The  modern   type  of   spiritualism 

not  a  new  thing ;  its  denial 
is  the  new  thing,  60 

—  When  called  to  the  bar  of  modern 

science  it  has  a  right  to  fair  treat- 
ment and  a  full  hearing,  61 

—  No  reason  to  suppose  that,  at  death, 

surviving  spirits  become  "  little 
gods,"  63 

—  In  China,  68 

—  Education  in  spiritualism  must  be 

acquired,  70 

—  Its  connection  with  religion  com- 

plete and  universal,  81 


Spiritualism — continued 

—  Sir  Wm.  Crookes  ;  a  detached  hand, 
in  full  daylight,  comes  down  upon 
a  table,  striking  it  with  a  solid 
body,  producing  loud  sounds,  105 

—  Like  all  scientific  demonstrations, 

spiritualism  depends  on  accumula- 
tion and  co-ordination  of  evidence, 
129 

—  It    can     be    easily     demonstrated 

among  even  a  few  friends,  129 

—  Buchner  says   spirit   can   only   be 

something  immaterial,  excluding 
matter,  135 

—  Inventions,      genius,      inspiration, 

clairvoyance,  mediumship,  all 
belong  to  this  domain,  144-145 

—  Lord  Tennyson  on  guardian  spirit- 

mother,  145 

—  Like    light   of   stars,    obscured    by 

cross-fights  in  the  open  ;  visible 
from  deep  wells,  145-146 

—  The  sole  alternatives,  spiritualism 

or  nihilism,  159 

—  Dangers  of  applying  a  priori,  159 

—  Professor  Le   Conte  on   spirit  and 

spiritualism ;  without  it  no 
religion,  no  virtue,  no  philosophy, 
no  science,  no  significance  in  man 
or  in  nature,  163 

—  Using  an  a  priori,  science  failed  to 

investigate,  170 

—  Broad    statement    of    the   subject, 

170-171 

—  The  substratum  of  religion  but  not 

identical  with  it,  200 

—  The  basic  proof  of  future  life,  201 

—  Successive   spheres    of    future    life 

and  growth,  201-202 

—  Lives  of  mutual  helpfulness,  not  of 

idleness,  202,  395-396 

—  Does     not     necessarily     determine 

eternal  life,  but  only  survival, 
201-202 

—  With  survival,  the  rest  can  be  left 

to  God,  202 

—  Present  life  one  of  probation,  202 

—  Spirits  start  with  their  stock  ac- 

quired here,  202 

—  May  advance,  stand  still,  or  even 

retrograde,  202 

—  The  path  of  duty,  203 

—  Definition  of  transcendentalism,  216 

—  The    spiritualism   of    the   universe 

cognisable  by  ourselves,  216 

—  Romanes     on     false     attitude     of 

scientific  men  on  spiritualism, 
228 

—  Quite  as  dogmatic  as  theologians. 

228 

—  Professor  De  Morgan  on  spiritual- 

ism, 231-232 

—  Persecution  has  helped  spiritualism, 

233 


430 


GENERAL   INDEX    OF 


Spiritualism — continued 

—  Its  advancement  in  institutions  of 

learning,  233-235 

—  The  basis  of  all  religion  is  spiritual- 

ism, 245 

—  Its  various  types,  249 

—  We  are  all  mediums  ;  developments 

vary,  249 

—  Disturbing  influence  of  a  "  strongly 

magnetic  "  sceptic,  252 

—  Inexplicable        phenomena         en- 

countered by  a  "  magician,"  who 
consulted  a  medical  friend  of  the 
Author,  253-254 

—  Interruptions    in    communications 

from  removing  hands  from  the 
table,  254-255 

—  Mental       questions       as       readily 

answered    as   spoken   ones,    254- 

255 

—  Necessity      of      presenting      only 

apparently  genuine  cases  for  in- 
vestigation ;  remarkable  cases  not 
necessary,  256-260 

—  Sir  Wm.  Crookes'  narrative,  "  The 

last  of  Katie  King,"  256-260 

—  Spirit-photographs  of  the  invisible, 

260-263 

—  Spiritualism  in  China  ;    in  Ancient 

Mexico ;  in  Central  America ; 
among  the  Red  Indians,  and  the 
northern  Eskimo,  267-268 

—  How  spiritualism  has  been  shifted 

off :  "If  there's  anything  you 
don't  understand,  call  it  magnet- 
ism," 268-269 

—  Smith's  narrative  of  crystal  vision 

among  the  Indians,  270 

—  Mooney's  narrative  of  crystal  vision 

among  the  Cherokees,  273 

—  Crystal  vision  in  Yucatan,  273 

—  Crystal  vision  among  the  Eskimo, 

268 

—  Crystal  vision  among  other  American 

Indians,  273 

—  Crystal  vision    dates    back  to  the 

time  of  Joseph,  at  least,  270 

—  Consciousness  sent  outside  the  body, 

and  reporting  back,  284-287 

—  Methods  now  employed  to  exclude 

telepathy  from  the  living,  294 

—  The       attempts       to       invalidate 

phenomena  by  "  malobservation," 
299 

—  "  Lapse    of    memory  "    considered, 

299-300 

—  Experiments   with   Hough,    a   boy 

medium,  316-320 

—  Narrative  of  the  automatic  writings 

of  Mrs  P.,  320-326 

—  Original  records  in  possession  of  the 

Author,  320 

—  Apparent  presence  of  a  number  of 

communicators,    "in    a    crowd," 


Spiritualism — continued 

sometimes  in  each  other's  way, 
295.  323.  328,  362 

—  Sudden     appearance     of      "  inter- 

jectors,"  327-329,  295,  331 

—  Experiments          with          trumpet 

mediums,  335-337 

—  Combined  veridical  and  previsional 

dream,  337-338 

—  Apparitional  case  reported  by  Dean 

of  a  Medical  College,  340 

—  Probable    employment    of    bound- 

ether  in  materialisations,  350-356 

—  Apparitional    cases,    340-349,    357- 

364-  369 

—  The      apparently     inconsequential 

"  John  Steefa  "  case,  372-374 

—  The  phenomena  of  spiritualism  will 

always  be  exceptional,  397 

—  Three  great  classes  of  facts  which 

seem  to  establish  intercommunica- 
tion between  the  individual  living 
and  the  individual  dead,  404-405 

—  All  believers  in  "  luck,"  "  genius," 

"  conscience,"  "  self  -  sacrifice," 
"  remorse,"  "  aspiration,"  all  who 
think  a  prayer  in  distress,  are  at 
heart  spiritualists,  404 

—  In    a    vast    number    of    cases    the 

narratives  are  true,  405 

—  Not  in  all,  but  not  all  of  anything 

is  true,  405 

—  Importance  to  mankind  of  researches 

in  spiritualism,  405 

—  Tennyson  on  the  surviving  "  Ghost 

in  Man,"  405 

Spiritualists,  The  least  dogmatic  of  all 
people,  15-16 

—  Rev.  Dr  Davies  says  they  are  the 

broadest  churchmen,  58 

—  An  unbiassed  mind  essential,  63 

—  They  fear  the  coming  onrush  which 

will  follow  universal  acceptance ; 
the  credulity  will  then  be  the 
other  way.  Caution  always  re- 
quisite, 130 

—  The  test  of  a  spiritualist,  404 

—  They    gladly    welcome    every    in- 

vestigation, 404 

Stainton-Moses,  W.,  On  phantasms  of 
the  living,  285 

Stanhope,  The  Earl  of,  At  his  request 
Captain  Burton  obtained  crystal 
and  black  mirror,  252 

Steefa,  John,  Purported  to  be  a 
coloured  teamster  in  the  Con- 
federate Army  ;  his  communica- 
tion, 372-374 

Stephen  the  Sabaite,  Saint  (died  794), 
His  hymn  from  "  Hymns  of  the 
Eastern  Church,"  "  Is  there 
diadem,  as  monarch  ?  "  187 

Stephens,  John  L.,  Narrative  of 
poltergeist  in  Yucatan,  301 


SUBJECTS   AND   AUTHORITIES 


431 


Stewart  and  Tait,  Their  "  Unseen 
Universe,"  103 

—  What  Christ  did  was  not  in  defiance 

but  in  fulfilment  of  law,  103 

—  Development  of  the  universe  by  an 

intelligence  resident  in  the  unseen, 
107 

—  On  revelation,  107-108 

—  Science  and  religion   cannot  have 

two  separate  fields  without  inter- 
communication, 109 

—  Warnings  against  false  assumptions 

of  pseudo-science,  116 

—  Ignorance     of     critics     concerning 

"  force,"  116 

—  On    horror    of    materialists    when 

brought  face  to  face  with  the 
inevitable  results  of  their  system, 
117-118 

—  Only  recently  have  scientific  men 

perceived  that  there  is  something 
besides  matter  or  stuff,  120 
Stock,    St    John,    On    ungrammatical 
ghosts,  115 

—  Well-attested  narratives  must  not 

be  rejected  because  they  sound 
grotesque,  115 

Subconsciousness,  The  source  of  in- 
ventions, 144 

—  Von  Hartmann  on,  146 

—  Ladd  on,  147 

—  Professor  Montgomery  on,  148 

—  Wundt  on,  148 

—  Waldstein  on,  149 

—  Professor  O.  W.  Holmes  on,  149 

—  Dr  G.  Thompson  on,  149 

—  Professor  Barker  on,  150 

—  Dr  Ward  on,  150 

—  Charles  Darwin  on,  150-151 

—  Professor  James  on,  223 

—  W.  H.  F.  Myers  on,  224 

—  Professor  Bowen  on,  146 

—  Dr  Schofield  on,  128,  147,  339 

—  Dr  W.  B.  Carpenter  on,  398 

—  The     Author's      experiments     on, 

151 

—  Description  of,  with  its  effects  in 

religious  conversion,  383-387 
"  Supernatural      in      Nature,"      God 

prominent  in  the  minds  of  primitive 

man  ;   no  tribe  or  people  without 

religion,  56 
Superstition,  Joel  Chandler  Harris  on 

mystery,  402-403 

—  Former  attitude  of  science  ;   to  fall 

back  on  an  a  priori.  This  was 
itself  to  fall  back  on  a  gross 
superstition,  9 

Swift,  Dean,  His  "Gulliver";  their 
system  of  philosophy  ;  much  like 
what  recently  passed  for  science,  73 

TABLE-TIPPING,  Case  of  John  Steefa, 
372-374 


Tacitus,  His  testimony  as  to 
"  Christus,"  executed  as  a  criminal 
in  the  reign  of  Tiberius  (closed  A.D. 
37)  by  the  Procurator,  Pontius 
Pilate,  1 01 

Tcheng  Ki  Tong  (Chinese  author), 
On  planchette  writing  in  China, 

275 

Telepathy,  Reluctantly  conceded  by 
"  Natural  Science,"  293 

—  Science    has    also    been    forced    to 

alter  its  whole  former  bases,  by 
the  X-rays,  the  new  electron  views 
of  matter,  the  phenomena  of 
radium,  the  phonograph  and 
telephone,  and  wireless  telegraphy 
all  in  a  quarter  of  a  century,  293 

—  By  its   discovery   and   demonstra- 

tion telepathy  has  compelled  a 
new  caution  in  psychological  ex- 
perimentation, 294 

—  Many  of  the  past  records  in  them- 

selves exclude  telepathy  from  the 
living,  294 

—  Inter jectors  at  stances  ;    how  they 

often  exclude  telepathy,  295-296 

—  Cross-correspondences    to    exclude 

telepathy,  296-299 
Tennyson,  Lord  Alfred,  On  life,  77 

—  On  guardian  spirits,  145 

—  Rejects  fusion  of  self  into  a  general 

soul,  215 

—  On  intercommunion  with  spirits  of 

the  dead,  405 

Terriss,  William,  the  well-known  actor, 
310 

—  Frederick  Lane's  prevision   of  his 

murder,  310-315 

Tertullian,  On  the  vast  sweep  of 
Christianity,  29 

—  Tertullian     and    Irenaeus ;     causes 

and  results,  29 

Tescatlipoca,  The  Aztec  god  of  crystal 
vision,  273 

—  The  son  of  the  never-represented 

God  supreme,  273 

Tesla,  Nikola,  On  the  infinite  energy 
"  stored  up,"  225 

—  On    the    further    guidance    of    the 

spirit,  225 

—  On  the  ether,  354 

Theology,  Its  artificial  character,  5 

—  Professor  James  on,  4 

—  Rev.  Dr  Davies  on,  5 

—  Max  M  tiller  on,  5 

—  Romanes  on,  5 

—  Rev.  Dr  Gladden  on,  6-8 

—  The  old  theology  emphasised  God's 

sovereignty ;  the  new  His 
righteousness,  7 

—  Sectarian   theology  ;     an   absentee 

God,  191 

—  Has  swept  countless  millions  into 

infidelity,  191 


432 


GENERAL   INDEX    OF 


Theology — continued 

—  The    religious    faith    of    .wo    little 

girls,  192 

—  The     alliance     of     theology     with 

materialism,  43-49,  169 
Thomas,  Cyrus,  On  Maya  Codices,  195 
Thomson,  Professor  Wm.  H.,  On  living 

and  dead  protoplasm,  94 

—  On  development  of  a  whale,  95 

—  On  sleep  and  awakening,  96 

—  On  credulity  and  incredulity,  104 

—  Mind  a  great  reality,  225 

—  There  is  nothing  inconceivable  in 

its  separate  existence,  225 
Thompson,     Dr     G.,     On     the     sub- 
consciousness,  149-150 
Transcendentalism,    What    the    term 
signifies,  216 

—  Contrasted    with    empiricism,    216 
Trollope,  T.  A.,  Testimony  of  Bosco, 

the  great  professor  of  legerdemain, 
on  spiritual  phenomena,  253 

—  Not    a   spiritualist ;     some    of    his 

experiences,  254 

—  Narrates    two    apparitional    cases, 

344-347 
Tylor,  His  "  Primitive  Culture,"  56 

—  On  religion  ;  dates  it  back,  possibly, 

to  origin  of  man,  57 

—  All  religions  connected,  57 

—  Thoughts  and  principles  of  modern 

Christianity  have  clues  extending 
back  to  origin  of  mankind,  8 1 
Tyndall,    John,    On    chasm    between 
matter  and  consciousness,  135 

—  On  presence  of  a  strongly  magnetic 

sceptic  at  a  stance,  252 

UNCONSCIOUS,  The,  Dr  Wm.  B. 
Carpenter's  concession  of  im- 
mediate insight,  to  supersede  the 
operations  of  the  intellect,  398 

United  States  Supreme  Court,  Patent 
cases,  142-143 

Universe,  Stewart  and  Tait  on  its 
development,  107 

—  Nikola  Tesla  on  its  infinite  energy, 

225 

—  Romanes  on  its  universal  order,  84 

—  On  the  spirit  of  the  universe,  84 

—  On  its  psychism,  84 

—  On  causality  in  the  universe,  43-47 

VARLEY,  Mr  Cromwell,  On  disturbing 
influence  of  a  strongly  magnetic 
person,  252 

Verworm,  On  psychology  of  micro- 
organisms, 183 

Visions  of  the  same,  Francis  Galton  on, 

376-379 

—  Other  writers  on,  376 

—  Experiences   of   a   patient   of   the 

Author,  376-377 

—  Experiences  of  another  lady,  377-378 


Visions  of  the  Sane — continued 

—  Experiences  of  the  Author,  378-382 

—  Explanations  considered,  376,  378, 

379,  381 
Vis     Medicatrix     Naturae,     Allied     to 

psychical  heredity,  222 
Vitality,    How    it    opposes    chemical 

decomposition,  17 

—  Sir  Wm.  Crookes  on  life,  18 

—  Lord  Kelvin  on,  94-95 

—  Professor  Orton  on,  31 

Volition,   The  only  scientific  basis  of 

evolution,  240 
Von  Hartmann  (see  Hartmann,  Von) 

WALDSTEIN,  On  the  subconscious,  149 
Wallace,  Alfred  Russel,  On  a  priori ; 
has  been  given  up,  76 

—  On  Hume's  argument,  89-90 

—  Criticism     of     Dr     Carpenter     for 

suppression,  127 
Ward,  Dr,  On  psychology  of  plants, 

150 

—  On  the  subconsciousness,  150 
Warschauer,  Dr,  All  science  rests  on 

prior  assumptions  transcending 
scientific  proof,  134 

—  The  scope  of  the  natural  sciences, 

134 

Webster,  Noah,  Definition  of  the  term 
psychological,  13 

—  Definition  of  transcendentalism,  216 
Weismann,      August,      His      "  Germ- 
Plasm  "  theory,  220 

-  Tentatively  suggested,  221 
Westcott,  On  absence  of  care  to  pre- 
serve   the    books    of    the    New 
Testament  in  early  times,  22 

—  Disappearance   of   original  copies ; 

transcriptions  not  always  accurate, 

22 

—  God's  miraculous  spiritual  care,  22 
Whitman,  Walt,  On  the  divine  in  man, 

399 

—  "  The  creative  thought  of  Deity," 

400 
Wilkinson,  Dr  J.  J.  Garth,  On  rareness 

of  spiritual   manifestations ;     "a 

proof  of  the  economic  wisdom  of 

the  Almighty,"  250 
Wireless  Telegraphy,  Consideration  of 

wireless   telegraphy,   293-294 

—  Contrasted  with  telepathy,  294 

—  Not  atmospheric  ;    purely  ethereal, 

293 

—  Consciousness   the   psychical    basis 

of  telepathy ;  vibrations  trans- 
mitted, the  physical  basis  of  wire- 
less telegraphy,  294 

Wolseley,  Lord,  On  electrical  power  in 

\;      great  commanders,  288 

—  Examples  cited,  289 
Wordsworth,  William,  On  pagan  creed 

as  preferable  to  materialism,  161 


SUBJECTS    AND  AUTHORITIES            433 

Wordsworth  William— continued  Zoospores,    Psychology   of;     heredity 

—  On    heredity    (as    from    God    our  impossible!  220 

WlinH?m/?'  **°  —  Gifts    or  endowments    must    have 

Wundt,  On  the  subconsciousness,  148  come    with    a    leap ;     Binet    on 

_.  micro-organisms    181 

XIMENES,  Cardinal,  Greek  Testament  (Note.— Readers    should   not   fail 

owes     its     completed     form     to  to  study  Binet's  "  Psychic  Life  of 

Ximenes  (1514)    22-23  Micro  -  Organisms,"     as    well    as 

—  Erasmus   followed  at  nearly  same  Conn,      Sandeman,     Orton      and 

fc™6'  22  Shaler.) 


*E 


THE  RIVERSIDE  PRESS  LIMITED.  EDINBURGH. 


